When COVID-19 started to spread wildly around the world, massive parts of the world population began staying at home and as a consequence, so many countries reported getting their blue sky and clear air back. Have you noticed the difference in the blue sky and clear rivers in your part of the world? Many people in dense areas noted that they haven’t felt so good in their city environment. They feel like they can breathe again!
But unfortunately, a new contaminant has appeared, COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) litter, such as face masks and gloves is fast becoming the most prominent pollutant being fished out of the oceans today.
On Hong Kong’s Soko Islands, clean-up volunteers found dozens of masks in half an hour and in Antibes, France, the non-governmental organization, Opération Mer Proper, found used face masks and gloves all over the seabed during their routine ocean clean-up. France had ended their lockdown only 2 weeks before. The leader of this organization, Laurent Lombard, brought this rubbish to the surface and counted 14 gloves, 9 surgical masks, and 200L of other waste.
This amount of PPE waste might not seem too bad, but this is just the beginning…
France has had to order the production of 2 billion face masks which could easily end up being littered into the sea and if that happens, soon the Mediterranean Sea is going to have more face masks than jellyfish! Elsewhere around the world, used face masks are also being found carelessly discarded on streets.
Worries are also being shared online about the potentially hazardous nature of this waste. One supermarket worker said that when he previously collected the shopping carts he might find an occasional dirty nappy in the cart but now people regularly leave their used gloves and masks in the carts as well. He now he has to carry a rubbish bag to collect this potentially hazardous waste. Other individuals stated that during recent short walks around a few blocks and a short 20-minute hike in the woods, masks and gloves were seen littered everywhere. While specially prepared PPE waste bins are being filled with other rubbish, the careless littering of used masks and sanitising wipes is becoming more and more prevalent.
So, what harm does this waste do?
Gloves, masks and wipes all contain plastic. Once they get into the environment, over time they break down into micro plastics, containing harmful chemicals. Large pieces of plastic become a base for the growth of seaweed which in turns smells like food to sea animals. These animals end up dying trapped in plastic or stuffed full of plastic that they have mistaken for food.
The problem of improperly disposed COVID PPE is two-fold. Environmental and Medical. Surgical masks contain the non-biodegradable material, polypropylene, which takes over 400 years to decompose in a normal environment. And apart from being harmful to the environment, used COVID-19 PPE is considered to be medical waste. If it is not handled properly, it is going to be a huge contributor to the further spread of the virus.
The good news is that some countries are already acting on the problem. An MP in France suggests imposing a 300 Euro fine on anyone littering masks and gloves. They report that there are 200 billion masks being used every week in France and if only 10% of these masks are littered on the ground, we can only imagine what that would look like...
While we get through this crazy time together, we fully encourage everyone to use any PPE you need to protect yourselves and your communities from this virus but PLEASE DISPOSE OF THEM WITH CARE. They must NOT be disposed of in the same way as general waste.
Several big companies are also working on developing reusable protective equipment, such as protective clothing. While we await the arrival of better alternatives, we have some tips for the proper disposal of your used PPE.
1. Disinfect first, such as by spraying it with 75% alcohol disinfectant.
2. Use scissors to destroy the item and make it lose its function.
3. seal it up in a rubbish bag.
4. Put the sealed bag into dry waste or special collection garbage bin
If the PPE item has been in contact with the virus, please put it in a sealed bag and put it in proper medical waste bin.
With the development of the world economy and the deepening of cultural exchange among countries, pandemic diseases are posing more of a threat than ever in this century, all of us need to work together to get through this!
We only have one planet, its everyone’s duty to protect and cherish it. Let’s start with garbage classification!
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