Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb;7(2):e06343.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06343. Epub 2021 Feb 20.

COVID pollution: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global plastic waste footprint

Nsikak U Benson  1 , David E Bassey  2 , Thavamani Palanisami  3
Affiliations

COVID pollution: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on global plastic waste footprint

Nsikak U Benson et al. Heliyon. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Plastic products have played significant roles in protecting people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The widespread use of personal protective gear created a massive disruption in the supply chain and waste disposal system. Millions of discarded single-use plastics (masks, gloves, aprons, and bottles of sanitizers) have been added to the terrestrial environment and could cause a surge in plastics washing up the ocean coastlines and littering the seabed. This paper attempts to assess the environmental footprints of the global plastic wastes generated during COVID-19 and analyze the potential impacts associated with plastic pollution. The amount of plastic wastes generated worldwide since the outbreak is estimated at 1.6 million tonnes/day. We estimate that approximately 3.4 billion single-use facemasks/face shields are discarded daily as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, globally. Our comprehensive data analysis does indicate that COVID-19 will reverse the momentum of years-long global battle to reduce plastic waste pollution. As governments are looking to turbo-charge the economy by supporting businesses weather the pandemic, there is an opportunity to rebuild new industries that can innovate new reusable or non-plastic PPEs. The unanticipated occurrence of a pandemic of this scale has resulted in unmanageable levels of biomedical plastic wastes. This expert insight attempts to raise awareness for the adoption of dynamic waste management strategies targeted at reducing environmental contamination by plastics generated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Biomedical plastic waste; COVID-19; Effective; Plastic pollution; Single-use plastics; Waste management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Types of plastic based biomedical wastes originated during COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Estimated daily single-use facemasks (face shields) discarded by each continent.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimated global share of face masks discarded as COVID-waste generated from a given. Country. Map created with mapchart.net©.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Stability of SARS-CoV-2 on different environmental surfaces. Data sources: Doremalen et al. (2020), Chin et al. (2020).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Components and treatment options for biomedical and domestic plastic wastes generated during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Supply and demand chain for medical waste during COVID 19 and relevant sectors for plastic waste generation (adapted from PlasticsEurope and Klemes et al., 2020. Brian Love and Julie Rieland, CC BY-ND).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Proposed chart showing pathways for inputs of medical wastes (plastics) into freshwater and marine environments.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ahmed W., Angel N., Edson J. First confirmed detection of SARS-CoV-2 in untreated wastewater in Australia: a proof of concept for the wastewater surveillance of COVID-19 in the community. Sci. Total Environ. 2020 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aljazeera News Which country have made wearing face masks compulsory. 2020. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/countries-wearing-face-masks-comp...
    1. Ammirati C.T. 25–37. Elsevier Mosby; 2005. Chapter 2: aseptic technique. (Surgery of the Skin).
    1. Benson N.U., Fred-Ahmadu O.H., Bassey D.E., Atayero A.A. COVID-19 pandemic and emerging plastic-based personal protective equipment waste pollution and management in Africa. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 2021 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Benson N.U., Fred-Ahmadu O.H. Occurrence and distribution of microplastics-sorbed phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in coastal psammitic sediments of tropical Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Guinea. Sci. Total Environ. 2020 - PubMed