Covid-19 an ecological disaster for Asia as single-use plastics pile up and recycling is rolled back
- Single-use plastic personal protective equipment is being incinerated in the Philippines when reusable alternatives could be used instead
- Waste sorting has dropped because of fear of Covid-19, and plastic bag bans have been set aside. Poor countries must learn from their mistakes, activist says
Takeaway food in several single-use plastic containers, carried in a couple of disposable plastic bags by someone in a throwaway face mask, has become a common scene across Asia during the global coronavirus pandemic.
This surge in single-use plastic is seen by environmentalists as a catastrophe in the making, undermining hard-won recycling victories around the world.
With an estimated 129 billion face masks – most commonly made using the thermoplastic polypropylene – and 65 billion gloves used globally every month, waste management is becoming a growing challenge for cities dealing with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The extra plastic waste, with a lifespan of at least 500 years, adds to the glut of the material already clogging rivers, washing up on shorelines and on the seabed – and found in whales’ bellies and the crops of seabirds. Plastics do not fully disappear, but instead disintegrate into invisibly small pieces called microplastics, which are linked to adverse health effects on humans as they move through the food chain.
Long before the pandemic struck, conservationists had been warning of the ecological and human health threats posed by the scourge of plastic pollution. Now the problem is getting out of hand as people prioritise their health and safety and fail to understand that single-use products provide no more protection than washable and reusable alternatives.
