The global demand for certain plastics has grown during the coronavirus pandemic while recycling efforts have suffered setbacks, according to an environmental expert at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Personal protective equipment, takeout food packaging and single-use water bottles have all seen a rise in demand as people combat the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, municipalities, airlines and other business concerned about exposing workers to the virus have suspended their collection and recycling programs, wrote Rachel Meidl, a fellow in energy and environment at the Baker Institute. “The pandemic, coupled with the oil price collapse and a global economic slowdown, challenges the world’s stated desire for investments to keep pace with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the aspiration of a circular economy,” Meidl wrote in a Baker Institute blog post that was also published by Forbes.
Meidl argues that a systemic approach, not product-focused bans, is how to combat the extensive and interconnected global waste problem: “COVID-19 has not eliminated the need to propel the recycling industry to become more economical and sustainable.”
Source: Phys.org
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