Over a month into the lockdown and the usually bustling streets of Kalamata, a Greek city southwest of Athens traditionally known for its olives, are largely empty. As in the rest of Greece, residents of the coastal city are allowed out only in strict circumstances, including for short exercise and grocery shopping. But discarded gloves, wipes and bottles of sanitizer are strewn across parks, sidewalks and roads, as people try to protect themselves and others from infection.
The problem isn’t confined to the small Greek city. Similar waste is causing problems in bigger metropolises such as New York and London. Gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are critical for those fighting the pandemic but are also widely used by the public. Still, because they’re not always disposed of properly, environmentalists fear negative consequences for wildlife and the fight against plastic pollution. “If they’re thrown on the streets, when it rains the gloves and masks will eventually end up in the sea,” said Anastasia Miliou, a marine biologist and research director with the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation based in Greece.
PPE items not left to float about in the environment and the sea are not necessarily easy to deal with either, explained Joan Marc Simon, executive director of Zero Waste Europe, a Brussels-based NGO. He points to the European recycling scheme under which retailers and producers pay for the collection and treatment of plastic packaging. As gloves aren’t considered packaging, they cannot be put into household recycling bins, explained Simon. Even gloves made of latex rubber, a natural product, aren’t always an eco-friendly choice, Simon added. It depends on the chemical additives used to produce them, he said, some of which can harm the environment when they decompose.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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