Plastic Pollution in the Oceans
Source: https://theconversation.com/how-earths-plastic-pollution-problem-could-look-by-2040-143220
Welcome back to our blog and today we are going to talk about how COVID-19 has worsened the problem of plastic pollution!
Single-use plastic is one of the greatest threats to the environment. According to the Hong Kong-based NGO OceansAsia, approximately 300 million tons of plastic is produced worldwide every year, with more than 8 million entering oceans annually- ultimately threatening the ecosystems of marine wildlife. Plastic entering the marine environment is set to double by 2040 and, unless the world acts, more than 1.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste will be dumped on land and in water bodies (Velis & Cook, 2020).
COVID-19 and plastic pollution
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to further exacerbate the scourge of plastic pollution. Essential components to controlling the spread include the wearing of surgical face masks and the frequent disinfection of hands, vital to eliminating COVID-19. Both face masks and hand sanitiser production include the use of plastic. Face masks typically contain polypropylene (PP), which, due to the microfibers’ hydrophobic composition, acts as a protective layer against bodily fluid droplets. Other more intricate and expensive face masks include polyurethane (PUR) and/or polyacrylonitrile (PAN). Plastic has a lifespan of approximately 450 years, and never fully degrades but rather shrinks into smaller pieces of plastic called microplastics.
Plastic entanglement of sea creatures
Source: https://plasticpollutionblogsite.wordpress.com/
Solid plastic debris in the sea injures and kills fish, seabirds and marine mammals, impacting at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species and 43% of all marine mammal species according to a recent Convention on Biological Diversity report . The impacts include fatalities as a result of ingestion, starvation, suffocation, infection, drowning, and entanglement.The practical problems with gloves and masks finding their way into our rivers and oceans is that they can easily be mistaken for jellyfish, a favorite food of sea turtles. Because of their elastic components, masks also have increased risks of entanglement for a wide variety of fish, animals and birds (Ford, 2020).
Solutions
Short-term solutions include fines, labels on disposable items, making information on littering and how to recycle more available to the public and potentially designing more eye-catching and ‘fun’ refuse bins to encourage interaction. It is believed that the environmental emphasis on plastic pollution will return to the limelight once the COVID-19 crisis is under control. In the meantime, researchers suggest recycling single-use plastic utensils and containers, limiting food deliveries and ordering from grocery suppliers that offer more sustainable delivery packaging. Wearing reusable face masks, disposing of single-use face masks correctly and buying hand sanitiser contained in ecologically sustainable packaging are also here-and-now factors to consider (Konyn, 2020).
Thank you and see you next week !
Sources:
- Ford, D (2020) “COVID-19 Has Worsened the Ocean Plastic Pollution Problem” Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-has-worsened-the-ocean-plastic-pollution-problem/
- Konyn, C. (2020) “Another Side Effect of COVID-19: The Surge in Plastic Pollution” Retrieved from: https://earth.org/covid-19-surge-in-plastic-pollution/
- Velis, C & Cook, E (2020) “How Earth’s plastic pollution problem could look by 2040” Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/how-earths-plastic-pollution-problem-could-look-by-2040-143220
