Being amidst a pandemic makes us pray that we never encounter another ever again. But what if I tell you that a second pandemic is blooming just behind this one? And we all certainly know about it to some extent but turn an ignorant eye to it?
You won’t believe me right and even if you do, you’d want proof. Okay, I’ll get you hold of a proof. Let’s start with the most reachable form of information, our social media. Recently there was a video featuring a small girl whose nugget from a leading food franchise had a piece of disposable mask inside of it. Another such event is pictures of Delhi’s landfills being filled with PPE kits, sanitizer bottles, latex gloves and disposable masks being viral on various platforms. And that’s not it!
So yeah, we are currently in a ‘plastic pandemic’. And it’s not on the basis of these simple instances but a more elaborative view. Let’s have a closer look at it!
For once nature had it’s ‘cloud 9 times’ and was recovering but that was too short lived. The global sale of disposable masks was around 6000 crores in 2019, but according to a marketing study it has become a budding market estimated to make sales of around 12,00,000 crores in 2020. That’s a 20,000% increase. Even if 1% of these masks are not disposed of properly, 1,00,00,000 masks will end up in the environment forever. Each of these masks weighs around 4gms so nearly 40,000 kgs of single use plastic pertains around us.
And for a matter of fact they are not only a part of landfills but also the main portion of water pollution currently. These single use plastics will get and get washed away with rains, entering into the drainage system, from there to the rivers landing in oceans. Ocean Asia, which is an NGO during one of their cleaning drives, found 70 masks at a distance of 100m on a secluded and isolated beach and it is quite alarming because it is clear that they washed up on the beach with the waves.
For once we can stomach these wastes for the fact of them being necessity but what about the increase in packaging wastes during the COVID-19. As the world was in quarantine, we felt a safer self ordering online. These orders come in layered packaging from outer cover, to bubble wraps and other single use packaging materials which are not just used but extensively exploited for an instance. Even the food delivery sites add to the waste with single use plastic containers and packaging being provided widely to this ever growing market of online trade.
Moreover, recycling plants around the world have been shut down and waste collection has been stopped to limit the spread of the virus and keeping in mind the health of these collectors. So all the plastic being produced is 100% being discarded without proper disposal. So it is evident that it will show up on streets, potholes and around every place and that is what is happening currently in India and many parts of the world.
With careful calculations of weight and numbers it is estimated that when the vaccine arrives and it comes to vaccination of all people syringes will be used so it is estimated that 400 tons of single use plastic will land up in the environment. And if we talk about the lifespan of this single use plastic it’s around 450 years.
Also in 2017 the UN declared plastic pollution in oceans a global crisis. 80,00,000 tons of plastic is added to oceans every year. These bigger plastics turn into microplastics which contaminate land, groundwater and destroying ocean life and have entered the human food chain too.
Last year India’s hon’ble Prime minister Narendra Modi while jogging at mamallapuram beach in Tamil Nadu collected plastic from the beach and gave the term ‘plogging’ to people of india to inspire them to do plastic collection from beaches while doing refreshing morning and evening jogs. He also tried to spread the message during his speech from red fort on 15th august.
In the current situation it is necessary to use these single use plastics for our protection and there is no need to feel bad about it. The cases of covid have been exponentially increasing and there is bound to be an increase in biomedical waste around the globe but the problem is that the earth can afford to handle any more of the plastic waste. It is expected that by 2050 there will be more plastic in oceans than there are fish, in addition to this with the arrival of COVID this might happen earlier.
COVID-19 came as a nightmare; suddenly and unknowingly to all. But it is believed that it was a known risk that policymakers around the globe chose to ignore. Plastic pandemic is another such well-known risk for our planet and taking this lightly is a huge risk. The problem doesn’t end. It is just increasing every day, minute and second, even as we interact through this article. Action is needed now there are no seconds of thought to this.
The question may come, do we wait till the end of the pandemic to solve it? The answer is no. We can start right away and right now by minimizing the unthoughtful disposal of minimal subjects such as cigarette butts which are the number one single use plastic waste in the oceans. Give a thought to whatever you do, wherever plastic can be replaced in day to day, disposed properly and all. Start a change, raise a voice and call out other people to do so too!
That is the last thought that I would leave you with as we bid adieu.