The Pandemic’s Plastic Problem

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything, including the amount of plastic that may make its way into marine ecosystems.

Story and photos by Caelan O’Neil

December 11, 2020

Amid the yellow and red leaves covering the banks of Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, Washington, blue and white medical masks peek out, one rainstorm away from being washed into the water. Plastic pollution has affected aquatic environments for years, but now the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating this problem. To limit the spread of the virus, countries around the world have increased their production and consumption of single-use plastics in the form of personal protection equipment (PPE). This growing reliance on plastic-containing masks and gloves adds to the plastic trash already inundating lakes, rivers and oceans.

Before the pandemic, as much as 23 million metric tons of plastic poured into aquatic habitats every year. This number is expected to rise due to the increase in medical protection used in the pandemic. Recent estimates predict that 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves are being used every month to combat COVID-19 around the world, according to a 2020 paper from Environmental Science & Technology. This long-lived waste could affect the environment for decades.

While PPE is vital to slow the spread of the coronavirus, most of it can’t be recycled due to contamination concerns.

Cinnamon Berg, the owner and head chef of Cosmos Bistro in Bellingham, has noticed the increased PPE pollution around the city.

“I have definitely seen that kind of litter for sure,” Berg said.

Berg has confronted the issue at her business. She estimated her restaurant is ordering approximately 1,200 single-use masks a month in order to ensure her customers’ safety during the pandemic. She works to make sure the used ones wind up in the trash.

Another Bellingham resident who has noticed an increase in such litter around Bellingham is Eleanor Hines, the lead scientist for RE Sources, a local non-profit environmental clean-up group.

“There have been a lot of masks and some gloves that we definitely were not seeing before March,” Hines said in an email.

This waste is especially dangerous to the environment due to its tendency to break down into smaller pieces called microplastics, according to Hines. She warned that wildlife that eat it might choke, starve, or get exposed to toxic chemicals.

Britta Baechler, the senior manager of oceans plastics research at the Ocean Conservancy, a non-profit environmental advocacy group, confirmed that microplastics — specifically those from PPE waste — pose unique risks to aquatic organisms.

“If they’re masks they can break down into microfibers and if they’re gloves they can break down into microfilms,” Baechler said. “Those can be ingested by even some of the smallest organisms in the ocean, like plankton.”

Baechler pointed out that there seems to be a lack of understanding as to how far these microplastics can travel throughout the environment.

“There’s a misconception that plastic waste will only make it to the ocean if littered or mismanaged in a coastal area,” Baechler said. “What people don’t necessarily realize is that folks that live inland can also inadvertently contribute to the problem.”

Microplastics are less than half a centimeter in length — about the size of the tip of a pencil. This small size allows microplastics to travel long distances in rivers and streams until they are eventually deposited into lakes or oceans.

The increase in PPE pollution is not limited to Washington. Oceans around the world have seen a surge in this type of pollution since the pandemic began. In Europe, scuba divers with Operation Mer Propre, a French ocean clean-up organization, discovered discarded masks and gloves lining coral reefs at the bottom of the Mediterranean.

In an effort to eliminate plastic pollution, the Ocean Conservancy created the International Coastal Cleanup, an opportunity for individuals around the world to venture out into the environment to document and properly dispose of any pieces of trash they encounter. Baechler explained that, in anticipation of the increase in PPE pollution this year, the International Coastal Cleanup added a new category devoted solely to PPE waste.

“Right now, we have logged more than 70,000 pieces of PPE,” Baechler said. “And those are only what have been logged in our app to date.”

This pandemic pollution has appeared in some of the world’s most remote regions. Discarded masks and gloves appeared in significant amounts on the Soko Islands off the coast of Hong Kong shortly after the pandemic began. Scientists who visited these islands reported a substantial increase in PPE seen since the coronavirus first appeared in China in late 2019.

Using reusable masks is one way people can reduce the amount of PPE related waste they create. Since these masks can be used multiple times if washed regularly with detergent, their implementation world-wide could drastically lower the amount of PPE produced during the pandemic.

Reusable masks are also relatively cheap compared to constantly replacing those intended for single use. Many nations initially found themselves investing vast amounts of money to acquire PPE during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite many suffering from economic crises due to lockdowns. Mandating the use of reusable face masks has relieved the burden of supplying single-use face masks in countries like South Africa .

While reusable masks will help reduce the amount of single-use masks being produced during this pandemic, it does not replace the need for an organized approach in creating sustainable disposable strategies for PPE waste before it reaches the oceans.

“In many ways, our health is tied to the health of our oceans, so it’s important to do our part,” said Baechler.

Caelan O’Neil is a senior environmental science student who focuses on marine habitats and sustainable ways to maintain their integrity.