Keerthi Veluri
Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, O. P. Jindal Global University
Pandemic has caused an increase in plastic waste
It is no secret that plastic, most of which does not decompose, is a significant driver of climate change. Not just consumption and disposal but also the manufacture of plastic have adverse environmental impacts. The manufacture of four plastic bottles alone releases the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of driving one mile in a car.
In the recent past, single-use plastic was facing more scrutiny than it ever had because of consumer and regulatory backlash. Hence, efforts have been high to promote recycled plastic. We should find and use alternatives to plastic and eradicate the use of single-use plastic altogether.
Plastic waste from the medical industry
However, plastic usage in the medical industry is an area where individual consumers have the least negative view. Moreover, the pandemic is putting plastics at the heart of the prevention, fight, and treatment. This is the exact reason why coronavirus has been increasing due to a trend to create more, not less, plastic trash causing a reversal of all progress that has been made in the recent past.
On the surface, this situation is caused by individual choices that are increasing plastic demand during this pandemic. On the surface, this situation is caused by individual choices that are increasing plastic demand during this pandemic. But digging deeper leads us to the root cause for the trend, which is the price wars between recycled and new plastic in the global market.
Various causes of increased plastic footprint
Firstly, the global health crisis puts extra pressure on regular waste management practices, leading to inappropriate management strategies, including mobile incineration, direct landfills, and local burnings but little effort is directed towards recycling. Additionally, the economic slowdown has punctured demand for oil and as a result, global prices for oil/ petroleum have collapsed significantly. Hence, manufacturers chose to produce virgin plastic and sell it at extremely low prices in competition to recycled plastic. So, what is intensifying the pressure on new plastic is a price war between recycled and new plastic, made by the oil industry, which recyclers are losing worldwide. Overall, this cost incentive, along with lifestyle changes that increase plastic use, has complicated the challenge of overcoming plastic pollution.
We need to hold ourselves accountable
The real question now is, while the covid-19 surge is a temporary event, is the surge in plastic consumption a temporary problem or a permanent setback? The COVID-19 pandemic should be an opportunity for a ‘fresh start.’ The duration of the pandemic has the potential to act as useful for changing environmental habits and forming new sustainable ones.
However, this transition is faced with multiple barriers that may stop individuals from adopting this change in behavior. Sometimes even if we are aware we need to change a behavior and have an intention to act on that knowledge, we often fail to take steps to realize the new behavior.
Another possible barrier faced by those who are willing to change their behavior is the age-old economic theories. We are puppets of global economic indicators. We tend to decide our future on the forecasted economic numbers. In very few situations we put environmental impacts above economic ones. Additionally, our tendency to associate an economic cost to everything and perceive the value of an action in terms of its exchange to rupees is the cause of our inability to change our behavioral patterns. Even to switch from disposable masks to reusable ones, we calculate the economic cost of this decision. It finally trickles down to whether we should charge for use or nudge to reduce.
References
- https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-coronavirus-plastic-recycling/
- https://oilprice.com/
