Excessive reliance on single-use plastic to help control the spread of COVID-19 could wipe out all past efforts to stop pollution, an environmentalist and campaigner has warned.
In recent weeks, as Malta shifted to the so-called ‘new normal’ in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in line with the authorities’ direction, disposables have once again become the order of the day.
From plastic cutlery to disposable menus and condiments, restaurants and cafes are generating more waste than ever before as they try to get their business up and running again while also putting diners’ minds to rest.
But while the new measures might help keep the coronavirus at bay, concerns have been raised on their impact on the environment.
Environmental campaigner Cami Appelgren, who is known for coordinating clean-ups around Malta and for pushing for the ban on single-use plastics, told Times of Malta the situation is now worse than pre-COVID-19 days.
“Companies and cafes who before were going online and reducing waste are now suddenly re-introducing single-use stirrers and other items,” Appelgren lamented.
Instead of “being creative” and finding ways to be compliant with COVID-19 regulations while staying green, many were taking the easy way out and again opting for single-use products.
“This development shows that we understood nothing of nature’s warning sign and are instead keen on going back to normal if not worse,” the environmentalist said.
Acknowledging the issue, Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci told Times of Malta the use of disposables is one of the many repercussions of COVID-19. This, she said, is an issue which will have to be dealt with even after the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has brought about a lot of other side effects, apart from the health aspect. That is why when we were planning our strategy, we also wanted to be aware of the other issues we could have had,” Gauci said.
Unlike Appelgren, however, the superintendent is hopeful that people are actually being more creative and trying to think outside the box in an attempt to reduce waste.
“Though we are recommending the use of certain disposable items at restaurants and cafes, there are some ideas the owners themselves are coming up with.
“Some, for instance, are placing their menu under a glass which will not be disposable, and which can be easily cleaned,” Gauci said.
Others are making use of online platforms in order to avoid having to continuously print out menus.
“As we are going along, we are finding new ideas to move away from using only disposable items and it is important to adapt in this way,” Gauci said.
What is single-use plastic and why is it a problem?
Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are items which can be used only once before being thrown away or recycled.
These items can include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soft-drinks and water bottles and most food packaging.
The UN Environment Programme reports just around nine per cent of the world’s nine billion tonnes of plastic has been recycled.
Most of this plastic ends up in landfills, oceans and waterways, and the environment.
To make matters worse, most of these plastics do not biodegrade and instead they slowly break down into smaller pieces of plastic called microplastics that take up thousands of years to decompose, contaminating soil and water.