The Covid-19 pandemic has generated around 8.4 million tonnes of "mismanaged" plastic waste worldwide, with more than 25,000 tonnes of that finding its way into the oceans, according to a newly published study.
Discarded PPE washed up onto a reef in the Caribbean. Credit: Drew McArthur / Shutterstock
Discarded PPE washed up onto a reef in the Caribbean. Credit: Drew McArthur / Shutterstock
Published in the online journal PNAS, 'Plastic waste release caused by COVID-19 and its fate in the global ocean', also found that a large portion of this ocean plastic is likely to be washed up on beaches or become entangled in the seabed over the next three to four years. A smaller amount will remain in the open ocean, potentially accumulating as garbage patches.
The Arctic Ocean was highlighted as being an area of particular concern. The researchers found that over 80% of plastic debris that is washed into the region will quickly sink. They added that by 2025, a circumpolar plastic accumulation zone is likely to have formed.
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"The recent Covid-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics that intensifies pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic waste problem," said the report's authors Yiming Peng and Peipei Wu of Nanjing University in China.
"The released plastics can be transported over long distances in the ocean, encounter marine wildlife, and potentially lead to injury or even death," they added.
The report also warned that the discarded plastic waste could "facilitate species invasion and transport of contaminants" including Covid-19.
According to the study, 46% of the waste came from Asia, largely due to the prevalence of mask-wearing there, 24% came from Europe and 22% from the Americas.
The research also suggested that the vast majority of the excess waste - 87.4% - came from hospitals rather than personal use, which accounted for just 7.6%. Packaging and test kits made up 4.7% and 0.3% respectively.
"Most of the plastic is from medical waste generated by hospitals that dwarfs the contribution from personal protection equipment and online-shopping package material," wrote Peng and Wu.
"This poses a long-lasting problem for the ocean environment and is mainly accumulated on beaches and coastal sediments. We call for better medical waste management in pandemic epicentres, especially in developing countries."
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To conduct the research, the team used a newly developed ocean plastic numerical model in order to quantify the impact of the coronavirus on plastic discharge from inland sources, and incorporated data from the start of the pandemic in early 2020 up to August 2021.
Study co-author Amina Schartup of UC San Diego said: "The biggest sources of excess waste were hospitals in areas already struggling with waste management before the pandemic; they just weren't set up to handle a situation where you have more waste."
In order to tackle the problem, the researchers called for improved management of medical waste, especially in developing countries. They also urged for greater public awareness of the impact that discarded PPE and other plastic waste has on the environment.
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