Concerns about the potential for spreading the new coronavirus spurred at least four (US) states and many more municipalities to stall or suspend plastic bag regulations early on during the pandemic. Some of those suspensions are now expiring, while others remain in place with an unclear timeline — potentially impacting recycling operations and the broader waste stream. Those suspensions added to a public debate over plastics, with proponents saying the pandemic has shown the value of single-use bags. Environmental groups have struck a careful tone on the suspensions and a number of “zero waste” advocates told Waste Dive the priority for lawmakers should be public health, even as they dispute the benefit of abandoning reusable items.
When the pandemic first ramped up nationally, knowledge about how the virus spread was in preliminary stages. Initial research showed it could live on certain surfaces for up to three days — including plastics and stainless steel — and concern over the potential for transmission via reusable items spurred swift action from state and local officials. But testing for viruses on surfaces is tricky and the coronavirus is no different. The research cited to justify single-use plastics over reusable items has been partially linked to industry, drawing scrutiny from critics. And the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found the virus is largely spread person-to-person, as opposed to surface-to-person. Even so, the agency has also advised using disposable items at establishments like restaurants.
Environmental groups expressed concern that the pandemic-related embrace of plastics could slow the momentum behind efforts to adopt legislation banning plastic bags. That momentum has been building at the local and state level, with federal efforts also moving forward through the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which debuted in early February and would ban plastic carry-out bags among other provisions.
Source: Waste Dive
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