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Papers
20 resultsShowing papers similar to A Brief Review on Plastic Pollution and Roads Towards its Reduction
ClearMicroplastic pollution and associated health hazards: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic
This review explores how the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in single-use plastic waste from masks, gloves, and packaging, increasing microplastic pollution in the environment. Microplastics from this waste can enter land, air, and water, ultimately accumulating in the human body. The study highlights the need for better plastic waste detection, recycling, and management to reduce health risks from pandemic-driven microplastic contamination.
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.
Plastics, Food and the Environment
This review discusses the broad problem of plastic pollution in food, water, and the environment, arguing that microplastics have become a major public health and environmental concern exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic's surge in plastic use. It calls for multidisciplinary strategies — from improved waste management to behavioral change — to reduce plastic contamination in the food supply and surrounding ecosystems. The paper underscores that microplastics ingested through food and water can harm human health, making urgent action on plastic pollution a global priority.
The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Problem of Plastic Waste in the EU
This paper analyzed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected plastic waste generation and management in the European Union, finding that single-use plastic consumption increased sharply due to healthcare and hygiene needs. The surge in plastic use raises concerns about increased microplastic pollution in the long term.
Identification of Micro- and Submicron (Nano) Plastics in Water Sources and the Impact of COVID-19 on Plastic Pollution
This review discusses the identification of microplastics and nanoplastics in water sources and examines how the COVID-19 pandemic — through increased use of disposable plastic items — has worsened plastic pollution. The surge in pandemic-related plastic waste has added to the burden of microplastic contamination in waterways worldwide.
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.
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.
Increased pollution due to COVID-19 pandemic and bioremediation: A dire need of management
This review examines how the COVID-19 pandemic increased plastic pollution — particularly from PPE and single-use plastics — and discusses bioremediation strategies for cleaning up the resulting environmental contamination. The authors assess both short-term cleanup approaches and long-term strategies for preventing the accumulated pandemic plastic waste from becoming a persistent source of microplastic pollution. The review covers microbial and plant-based remediation options.
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.
Plastic Waste: Current Environmental Pollution, Health Hazard and Biodegradation Strategies and Its Management
This review paper surveys the scope of global plastic pollution, covering environmental contamination, health hazards, and biodegradation strategies. The study highlights that with plastic production exceeding 390 million tons by 2021, effective waste management and biodegradation approaches are urgently needed to address microplastic accumulation.
From outbreak of COVID-19 to launching of vaccination drive: invigorating single-use plastics, mitigation strategies, and way forward
Researchers review how the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent vaccination rollout dramatically increased single-use plastic consumption through PPE, medical devices, and e-commerce packaging, and recommend a stepwise management approach combining segregation, sterilization, technological innovation, and transition to biodegradable material alternatives.
Post-Covid-19 Pandemic Awareness on The Use of Micro- and Nano Plastic and Efforts into Their Degradation - A Mini Review
This mini-review discusses how COVID-19 increased micro- and nanoplastic pollution globally through expanded use of plastic in personal protective equipment and medical supplies. It also reviews current approaches to degrade these plastics, noting that biological and chemical methods show promise but face major scale-up challenges.
A Brief Review on Microplastic Pollution in Aquatic Body
This brief review summarizes the extent of microplastic pollution in aquatic environments, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly worsened the problem through increased use and disposal of single-use plastic personal protective equipment including face masks and gloves. The authors call for improved waste management strategies to address this accelerating contamination.
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.
Plastic Waste and Sustainability: Reflections and Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Socio-Cultural and Environmental Context
This systematic literature review examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on plastic waste generation and management, finding through analysis of 22 studies that the pandemic increased PPE and microplastic pollution in coastal environments and shifted consumption patterns toward increased packaging waste from e-commerce, raising concerns about long-term socio-environmental consequences.
Sustainable management of drinking plastic straws is required to reduce plastic pollution: Are we using them more during COVID-19?
Researchers examined sustainable management approaches for single-use plastic drinking straws, finding that COVID-19 pandemic conditions increased plastic straw consumption alongside other pandemic-related plastic waste, underscoring the need for improved waste management policies.
Prospect of microplastic pollution control under the “New normal” concept beyond COVID-19 pandemic
This review examines how the COVID-19 pandemic increased single-use plastic consumption through demand for personal protective equipment, online shopping, and food delivery, aggravating microplastic pollution. The study summarizes the limited research on toxicological effects of microplastics released from pandemic-related plastic waste on aquatic organisms, soil organisms, and humans.
Microplastic pollution in the marine environment: Distribution factors and mitigation strategies in different oceans
This review analyzed the environmental factors affecting microplastic distribution across different ocean basins, including currents, wind patterns, and biological processes. Researchers found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased plastic usage and microplastic generation worldwide. The study examines both the pathways through which microplastics reach the ocean and current mitigation strategies being developed to address marine plastic pollution.
Plastic 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.