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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to From outbreak of COVID-19 to launching of vaccination drive: invigorating single-use plastics, mitigation strategies, and way forward
ClearPlastic accumulation during COVID-19: call for another pandemic; bioplastic a step towards this challenge?
Researchers reviewed the surge in single-use plastic waste driven by COVID-19 personal protective equipment and evaluated bioplastics as an alternative, concluding that while bioplastics have limitations, transitioning toward them alongside circular economy waste management and policy intervention is essential to prevent plastic pollution from compounding pandemic-era environmental pressures.
Novel Covid-19: The Surge in Plastics (Known-Unknowns), Its Impacts on Public and Environmental Health and The Way Forward
This paper examined how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased single-use plastic consumption — PPE, packaging, and food delivery items — reversing previous progress on plastic reduction. The surge in pandemic plastics is expected to increase microplastic pollution in air, water, and food for years to come.
COVID‐19: An Accelerator for Global Plastic Consumption and Its Implications
This review examined how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global plastic consumption through increased medical waste and single-use plastics, analyzing the environmental implications and challenges for waste management systems worldwide.
A Brief Review on Plastic Pollution and Roads Towards its Reduction
This brief review summarized sources of plastic pollution and evaluated reduction strategies, noting that COVID-19 increased single-use plastic consumption dramatically. The review calls for improved waste management, stronger regulations, and development of biodegradable plastic alternatives to reduce the microplastic burden.
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a shift to a plastic circular economy
Researchers argue that the COVID-19 pandemic's surge in single-use plastic demand exposes deep flaws in linear plastic waste management, calling for coordinated action by governments, industry, and researchers to shift toward circular economy principles including intelligent design and sustainable upcycling of plastics.
Medical Waste during COVID-19 Pandemic: Its Types, Abundance, Impacts and Implications
This review analyzed 54 peer-reviewed studies on COVID-19-related medical waste, finding that its types and quantities shifted over the pandemic from personal protective equipment at the outset to vaccination waste during the peak vaccination phase. The surge in medical plastic waste created significant disposal challenges and increased microplastic pollution from discarded PPE.
The Impacts of Plastic Waste from Personal Protective Equipment Used during the COVID-19 Pandemic
This review analyzes the environmental impacts of personal protective equipment plastic waste generated during the COVID-19 pandemic, examining how the unprecedented surge in PPE demand overwhelmed waste management systems and contributed to microplastic pollution.
Increased plastic pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and recommendations
This review examines how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased plastic pollution through the massive use of disposable personal protective equipment like masks and gloves. Researchers warn that this surge in single-use plastics will accelerate the generation of microplastics and nanoplastics in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The study emphasizes the need to balance public health measures with environmental safety and calls for a shift toward sustainable alternatives.
Plastic and its consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers examined the dual role of plastic during the COVID-19 pandemic — as life-saving material in medical and personal protective equipment and as an environmental pollutant when improperly discarded — highlighting how pandemic-driven plastic use worsened water body contamination and public health risks.
The plastic pandemic: COVID-19 has accelerated plastic pollution, but there is a cure
This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the global plastic pollution crisis through massively increased use of single-use protective equipment like masks and gloves. Researchers review the environmental consequences and propose solutions including improved waste management, biodegradable alternatives, and policy changes to curb plastic pollution going forward.
The effect of the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic on the use of personal protective equipment in hospitals
Researchers assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected personal protective equipment usage in a German hospital, finding a dramatic increase in PPE consumption during the pandemic that generated substantially more plastic waste with environmental implications.
Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on solid waste generation and management strategies
Researchers reviewed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on solid waste systems globally, documenting 18–425% surges in medical waste generation, finding that lockdowns shifted commercial waste to households, and noting that pandemic emergency measures effectively stalled pre-existing policies aimed at reducing single-use plastics.
Mind the gap: Sustainable management of the surging plastic waste in the post-COVID-19 pandemic
This review examines how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased plastic waste from personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, and what can be done about it. Researchers found that traditional disposal methods like landfilling and incineration can release micro- and nanoplastics, while circular economy approaches and biological degradation methods show promise. The study underscores the importance of developing sustainable waste management systems that prevent protective equipment from becoming a lasting source of plastic pollution.
A creeping crisis when an urgent crisis arises: The reprioritization of plastic pollution issues during COVID‐19
This study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic led governments and industry to deprioritize single-use plastic reduction policies in favor of hygiene and health concerns. Policy analysis showed that the pandemic was used as justification to reverse plastic reduction commitments and increase single-use plastic consumption.
Single-Use Plastics and COVID-19: Scientific Evidence and Environmental Regulations
This commentary examines how the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased single-use plastic consumption and waste, reviewing the scientific evidence for the environmental impacts and discussing regulatory frameworks being developed in response.
Biomedical waste plastic: bacteria, disinfection and recycling technologies—a comprehensive review
Researchers reviewed recycling and disinfection technologies for the surge in biomedical plastic waste generated during COVID-19, finding that roughly 25% of biomedical waste is recyclable and that cleaner treatment approaches — from autoclave sterilization to chemical recycling — can convert this hazardous waste stream into recoverable materials.
Plastic pollution during COVID-19: Plastic waste directives and its long-term impact on the environment
Researchers reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated global plastic production — through mandatory masks, gloves, and single-use packaging — worsening long-term micro- and nanoplastic pollution in oceans, soils, and food chains. The study calls for stronger plastic waste management programs that specifically target the prevention of small plastic particles from entering ecosystems.
The COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the plastic pollution research – A comparative analysis of plastic pollution research before and during the pandemic
This comparative bibliometric analysis found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reshaped plastic pollution research, driving increased focus on single-use plastics from personal protective equipment and medical waste while temporarily shifting attention away from traditional environmental microplastic topics.
Impacts of the Plastics From Waste Personal Protective Equip-Ment in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Researchers analyzed the surge in personal protective equipment use during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019-2022 and its downstream environmental consequences, including microplastic generation. The study highlights that improperly discarded PPE, predominantly plastic-based and non-biodegradable, accumulates in landfills and marine environments, and frames waste management solutions within the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework.
Arising Challenges From Single-use Plastics and Personal Protective Equipment Through COVID-19 Pandemic in Waste Management System in Developing Countries
This review examines the waste management challenges posed by the surge in single-use plastics and personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in developing countries where infrastructure is limited. The authors analyzed published literature to highlight how the pandemic exacerbated plastic waste generation and identify gaps in policy and management capacity needed to address these emerging pollution streams.
Challenges in Healthcare Waste Management of the UN 2030 Agenda in the COVID-19 Era
This review examined healthcare waste management challenges during COVID-19, finding that the pandemic dramatically increased demand for single-use personal protective equipment, creating large new streams of potentially infectious plastic waste with serious implications for environmental microplastic pollution.
Understanding of environmental pollution and its anthropogenic impacts on biological resources during the COVID-19 period
Researchers reviewed how the COVID-19 pandemic intensified plastic pollution across terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric environments by driving surges in single-use plastics and inadequately managed medical waste, with plastic-related contamination projected to pose escalating transboundary risks through 2030 and beyond.
Will COVID-19 Containment and Treatment Measures Drive Shifts in Marine Litter Pollution?
This study examines whether COVID-19 containment and treatment measures, including widespread use of personal protective equipment and single-use plastics, are likely to drive significant shifts in marine litter pollution patterns. The authors assess how pandemic-driven increases in disposable plastic use may translate to elevated inputs of PPE-derived plastic debris in marine environments.
Plastic wastes in the time of COVID-19: Their environmental hazards and implications for sustainable energy resilience and circular bio-economies
This study examines how the surge in plastic waste during the COVID-19 pandemic, including personal protective equipment and packaging materials, has worsened environmental pollution. Researchers found that weathered plastic particles from PPE can adsorb chemical and microbial contaminants, posing risks to ecosystems and human health. The study argues that the pandemic could serve as an opportunity to improve life cycle assessment approaches and develop more sustainable plastic waste management strategies.