In the corona pandemic, the global volume of plastic waste has increased dramatically. Thousands of tons of waste have already ended up in the world’s oceans. This is where garbage becomes a long-lasting problem.
the Corona pandemic has led to a significantly increased volume of Plastic waste guided. According to an estimate, around 8.4 million tons of plastic waste in 193 countries had been produced by the pandemic by August, according to researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the “Proceedings” of the US National Academy of Sciences (“PNAS”).
For comparison: According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), mankind produces a total of around 300 million tons of plastic waste per year.
The team led by scientists Yiming Peng and Peipei Wu now assumes that a large part of the corona waste (around 87.4 percent) originated in hospitals, especially in Asian countries. 7.6 percent are due to masks and other protective equipment for private use, according to a study by the researchers. Packaging for the booming online trade made up around 4.7 percent of the additional waste.
“Big global environmental problem”
“Plastic waste harms marine life and has become a major global environmental problem.” The corona pandemic has led to increased demand for single-use plastic, which increases the pressure on “this problem, which is already out of control,” the researchers write.
More than 25,000 tons of the corona garbage have already ended up in the oceans. This is a long-standing problem for the marine environment. Within three to four years, a large proportion of this litter will either wash up on beaches or sink to the bottom of the sea. The researchers called for better management of medical waste, especially in developing countries.