Knowing well that every piece of plastic we discard still exists somewhere, slowly disintegrating into smaller pieces but never fully degrading should be reason enough for us to take the right actions towards a plastic-free planet. Even though we know that the key feature of plastic is its longevity, half of all plastic produced is designed for single-use and then thrown away. It is a crisis that we are all aware of, but we don’t address enough.
No matter how often we read about the dangers of choosing plastic, we continue to actively purchase single-use plastic items, thus creating more demand for what is most harmful to the planet. We come to think of it as “just one straw” and a plastic bag “just this one time” until we find ourselves sucked into the blackhole of an unending world of plastic- that plastic that will never leave the face of the Earth. From toothbrushes to teabags – there is plastic in almost everything we use.
As we continue to explore sustainable alternatives for all that we require, there is only little change taking place. One million plastic drinking bottles are still purchased every minute around the world. Our individual efforts can only be strengthened with strict measures taken by the political system to make a plastic-free planet a reality.
INDIA FREE FROM PLASTIC: A DREAM FAR FROM REALITY
We took a step closer towards the plastic-free dream when in October 2019, the Indian Prime Minister declared that India would take the necessary steps towards eliminating single-use plastic. We were expecting single-use plastic phased out by the year 2022, but are we there yet? While the policies to achieve these goals were still in the works, the world faced yet another obstacle: Covid-19 – a pandemic that led us further away from a plastic-free future.
PLASTIC: A POLLUTER, NOW ALSO A PROTECTOR
Safety measures for the pandemic have led to a surge in demand for single-use plastics in the form of personal protective equipment (PPEs) and other single-use medical equipment. But how does this impact the plastic industry?
PPE such as single-use masks are made up of materials like polypropylene plastic which can take about 450 years to entirely decompose. It is estimated that we use 6.8 billion disposable masks around the globe each day. We can only imagine its impact on the environment. A u-turn on the road towards a plastic-free India, we are taken aback with not one but two pandemics: Covid-19 and the increasing demand for plastic as our protector. It is not just a toothbrush or a plastic bag anymore. It is about the masks that keep us safe from a deadly virus.
When we consider the production aspect of PPE such as masks, it is noticeable that cotton masks and surgical masks emit almost the same amount of greenhouse gases, only increasing the emissions for reusable masks when we consider washing. According to a study, 3 billion items of PPE used for 6 months generated 27,000 times the average individual’s footprint.
The pandemic generates upto 7,200 tons of medical waste every day. What concerns us more than the production and use of single-use plastic is its disposal. Discarded masks and gloves have been found floating in the ocean, adding to the 8 million tonnes of plastic that already enters our ocean every year. The pandemic has deeply affected the waste management system. Disposal of PPE outside healthcare is mostly in domestic waste streams which can enter landfill, risking plastic pollution. The masks left on open grounds will slowly degrade and generate microplastics which are further released in the environment. Creating a new system to collect and treat PPE waste can reduce the amount of landfill waste that awaits treatment.
Despite the knowledge of the environmental consequences of using disposable masks, its purpose of protection makes it an essential commodity that we just cannot eliminate. Finding sustainable alternatives for personal protective equipment as well as proper disposal of these items should be treated as an urgent matter by the global community.
Cancelling single-use plastic bags is not all that the planet needs. We fail to think of the fate of what already lies in our landfill. Researchers in Australia for instance, studied the possibility of using recycled disposable face masks in road construction. This recycled face mask material would provide stiffness and strength in the base layer for these roads, using about 3 million masks to construct one kilometre of a two-lane road. This would prevent approximately 93 tonnes of waste from going into landfill. Such a solution addresses the issues of both construction waste as well as PPE disposal. An Indian company named Shayya uses waste scraps from PPE units to make mattresses for those in need. Not only did this help provide mattresses for the poor and homeless, it also solved the issue of the short supply of mattresses in Covid Care centres as well as the struggle for disposing waste during PPE production.
As businesses start to reopen, the use of plastic screens and single-use plastic packaging for food and beverage is also on the rise. Not to forget, the increase in production of sanitizers and other COVID-19 essentials that create more single-use waste. We’re now moving further away from the works of a complete plastic ban in the country. Reusable bags and containers are frowned upon for the safety of customers and workers. Social distancing and state protocols have also led to more products being delivered directly to our homes wrapped in a lot of plastic packaging. Although this helps combat the ongoing pandemic, it also boosts the demand for single-use plastic in the country.
Initiatives like these bring us closer to eliminating waste during the pandemic. Only when we find such solutions for the accumulated waste in a critical situation like the Covid pandemic, will we be closer to our dream of a plastic-free India, and a plastic-free planet. Start your sustainable journey with The Good Route where you can discover conscious brands and learn more about intentional living.
Written by, Angelica Cardoza
