World used 129b face masks, 65b gloves every month

The world celebrated World Oceans Day on 8 June 2021. The purpose of the Day was to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilise and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.

This draws our attention to a huge issue that is endangering our oceans — plastic pollution. A report by the Weather Channel states that over the course of the global coronavirus pandemic, there have been several reported instances where wildlife finds itself entangled in the pandemic-related waste. Perch, penguins, seagulls, and hedgehogs found trapped in the ear loops of the face mask, latex gloves and other wastes have not been uncommon. Moreover, birds using pandemic-related waste to build on nests have also been reported, which is fatal for both adults and young ones.

The Weather Channel reports that every year, a whopping eight million metric tons of plastic wastes find their way into oceans across the world, as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It has been projected via state of the art computational models that the weight of plastic will outnumber that of fish in the oceans by 2050.

Countries really need to sit up and take notice.

The Indian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued the draft Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021 in which they proposed a blanket ban on a number of plastic items, amongst other things. As a Better India report points out, this follows India’s announcement at the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly, where it piloted a resolution calling for a global phase-out of single-use plastics by 2025.

These amendments to the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 seek to improve the collection, segregation, refining, treatment, and disposal of plastic waste in a sustainable manner. This will in turn reduce waste generation and its environmental effects. Although a number of State governments have already issued their own notifications prohibiting the use of disposable carry bags and single-use plastic, this move by the central government is a welcome step towards a unifying effort.

Moving towards sustainable and environmentally conscious management of waste is an important priority and reducing single-use plastic is the first step towards this. Internationally, both Agenda 2030 and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also aim towards reduction of plastic, with SDG 12 being “to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. An integral part of SDG 12 is reduction of plastic waste, and implementing this notification will hopefully help further this goal.

The Weather Channel report highlights a study by researchers published in the Environmental Science & Technology journal. It cites that the world used 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves every month owing to the escalating needs. These face masks or PPEs are typically made of polypropylene (PP) and the material is composed of hydrophobic microfibers, which helps to form a protective layer against fluid droplets. Due to this composition, plastics usually tend to survive for as many as 450 years, and gradually breaks down into microplastics. A report by OceanAsia has estimated that as many as 1.6 billion face masks could have been dumped in the oceans in the year 2020.

All this could be devastating for a plethora of marine organisms, which often get trapped in the waste, or consume the laced microplastics — tiny fragments of plastics. These tiny microplastics could easily find their way and eventually settle into an animal’s lung or stomach, thus leading to infections and even blockages. Moreover, the chemical composition of these new forms of plastic wastes is also equally hazardous for the animals’ health.

The World Oceans Day theme was ‘The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods’. It is also a declaration of intentions that launches a decade of challenges to get the Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources”, by 2030.

The ocean covers over 70% of the planet. It is our life source, supporting humanity’s sustenance and that of every other organism on earth. It produces at least 50% of the planet’s oxygen, it is home to most of earth’s biodiversity, and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world. Not to mention, the ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030.

We need to take action!