How Covid Made World’s Trash Problem Much Worse
More than 530 million tons of plastic waste were created in the first seven months of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Photographer: Christopher Pike/BloombergIn 2020, when coronavirus lockdowns emptied public spaces and birdsong replaced the drone of cars and airplanes, some saw an opportunity to embrace a slower, more mindful way of life and prioritize the health of the planet over boundless consumption. It hasn’t turned out that way. A surge in e-commerce and online meal deliveries means humanity is spewing out trash like never before. And an avalanche of discarded face masks, gloves, syringes and test kits that saved countless lives has left a deadly legacy to the natural world.
More than 530 million tons of plastic waste were created in the first seven months of the Covid-19 outbreak, suggesting the total for 2020 would be at least double that of 2019, a paper in Nature found. Singapore takeaway and home-delivery services alone left an additional 1.21 million tons of discarded plastic during the city-state’s lockdown from April to May 2020.