Plastic waste release caused by COVID-19 and its fate in the global ocean

Abstract

The 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. While it is suspected to be large, the magnitude and fate of this pandemic-associated mismanaged plastic waste are unknown. Here, we use our MITgcm ocean plastic model to quantify the impact of the pandemic on plastic discharge. We show that 8.4 ± 1.4 million tons of pandemic-associated plastic waste have been generated from 193 countries as of August 23, 2021, with 25.9 ± 3.8 thousand tons released into the global ocean representing 1.5 ± 0.2% of the global total riverine plastic discharge. The model projects that the spatial distribution of the discharge changes rapidly in the global ocean within 3 y, with a significant portion of plastic debris landing on the beach and seabed later and a circumpolar plastic accumulation zone will be formed in the Arctic. We find hospital waste represents the bulk of the global discharge (73%), and most of the global discharge is from Asia (72%), which calls for better management of medical waste in developing countries.

Microplastics and Macroplastic Debris as Potential Physical Vectors of SARS-CoV-2: A Hypothetical Overview with Implications for Public Health

“…The oceans, marine biodiversity and coastal human communities, relying strongly on traditional seafoods, are affected by the pervasive plastic footprint and microplastic pollution. The origin of most discarded plastics is derived from anthropogenic activities and land-based sources, including urban areas, household, wastewater and industrial water, as well as fisheries, aquaculture, shipping, and tourism [1, 2,7,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. According to the recent global assessment of marine litter and plastic pollution by the UNEP [1], the chronic emissions of plastic waste into aquatic ecosystems are projected to nearly triple by 2040, if meaningful actions are not implemented.…”

“…To commence a treatment plan for the increase in plastic and microplastic pollution during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the ongoing massive use of PPE, it is important to adopt and foster risk assessment frameworks, bioengineering-technology, governance strategies and feasible bans to mitigate and eradicate macroplastics (e.g., single-use plastics) and microplastic pollution from the coastal-marine environments as documented elsewhere [7,8,10,48,[50][51][52][53][54][55]. Nonetheless, it is also imperative to assess and address the inequalities in who causes plastic pollution, who experiences and who are the recipients of the health impacts and consequences, and who can fix it by providing solutions along with those who have the political will to make the decisions and call for actions to divorce from a plastic dependence and foster more proactive life cycle assessments (i.e., from the extraction of raw materials to legacy plastic pollution) with agreements at the international level [55].…”

“…The massive increase in PPE use and subsequent discharging and littering of discarded PPE supplies (personal, household and medical waste; Figure 1) including both medical and non-medical facemasks, gloves, and empty sanitizer bottles not only disrupted plastics' life cycles and exacerbated aquatic or marine plastic pollution [7][8][9][10], but also allowed for the emergence of PPE-plastic debris and microplastics as a source of contamination that can potentially transmit SARS-CoV-2 [8,10]. PPEs are mostly complex materials made of diverse synthetic non-degradable polymers and may well serve as vectors and sources of chemical contaminants (metals and organic compounds) interacting with plastic surfaces and becoming sorbed by means of one or multiple sorption mechanisms, such as electrostatic interactions, hydrophobic interactions, among others.…”

“…Of great concern is the unprecedented demand for single-use plastics and massive use of personal protection equipment (PPE; Figure 1). The use of facemasks, gloves, packing and empty sanitizer bottles for health care and frontline workers and public safety [7][8][9] has grown exponentially, following public health recommendations or requirements to prevent the spread of the virus since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 and ongoing new emerging variants (e.g., delta, omicron). Poor PPE waste disposal and critical hazardous waste and public health management issues are of paramount concern [8][9][10].…”

“…Poor PPE waste disposal and critical hazardous waste and public health management issues are of paramount concern [8][9][10]. One study estimated an average of 8.4 million tons of COVID-19 pandemic-associated plastic has been generated from 193 countries as of 23 August 2021, from which close to 26 thousand tons were released into the global ocean [7]. Almost all nations around the world followed the public health protection guidelines and rolled back singleuse plastic bans temporarily, resulting in a surge of plastic pollution symbolized by the amount of PPE that has been littered in the coastal and marine environment.…”