April 23, 2020

U.S. ramps up plastic production during coronavirus pandemic

topic:	Pollution
located:	USA, Kenya
editor:	Yair Oded

In much of the developing world, threats of the ravages of COVID-19 are being compounded by plastic waste that is being discarded there by wealthy nations. While the problem of plastic pollution and its concentration in the world’s poorest regions predates the coronavirus pandemic, increased manufacturing of plastic products during the crisis worsens the situation and contributes to the health hazards faced by developing nations’ most vulnerable populations. 

For years, plastic manufacturers, including major conglomerates like Coca Cola, have been successful in placing the burden of recycling their products on the general public and governments. Thus far, the primary solution of wealthy governments has been to ship off the majority of their plastic waste to developing nations, where but a minority of the waste could be recycled. The complexity of the recycling process as well as the cheaper prices of new plastic products made plastic recycling unattractive to poor governments. Even if they had wanted to expand the volume of recycling, governments in the developing world simply don’t have the capacity or resources to do so. What happens as a result is that the burden of sorting out plastic falls on these countries' poorest, most vulnerable individuals. 

An investigation by The Intercept revealed that in Kenya, plastic waste is sold by people for 5 cents per kilogram, which takes them days to collect in harsh, hazardous conditions. This practice leads to serious human rights violations and child labour. Since the ability of people to sift through the heaps of discarded plastic is limited, The Intercept further reports, plastic waste is being dumped and burned en masse in poor countries, which causes severe health problems among children in communities located in close proximity to the landfills. 

The enormous quantities of plastic waste being shipped off to developing countries are causing an environmental damage that would take centuries to undue - clogging roads, contaminating waterways, and polluting food sources of animals and humans. 

The coronavirus pandemic made the situation even worse, with plastic manufacturers lobbying to ramp up production and remove both existing and looming regulations on plastic usage, claiming that plastic is an indispensable material at this hour of crisis. In the U.S., the plastic industry has been enormously successful in its attempts so far.

The Plastic Industry Association - a coalition of companies involved in plastic production - asked for their businesses to be exempt from shelter-in orders, as they are needed to produce medical supplies and drug packaging, among other essential products. The petrochemical industry, involved in creating plastic, managed to convince the EPA to roll-back environmental regulations, citing coronavirus as their justification.

The Plastic Industry Association also pressured politicians to speak out publicly about the benefits of plastic use at this hour of distress, and sponsored campaigns arguing that reusable grocery bags are dangerous to use due to their passing of germs. Many businesses, such as food chains, largely reverted to using single-use plastic products due to sanitary concerns. 

Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, a bill titled 'Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act' was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Alan Lowenthal. The sponsors of the bill argue that recycling alone is insufficient at this point; they call on the burden of waste treatment to be placed on manufacturers, for a temporary ban on the opening of new plastic manufacturing plants and the production of unnecessary plastic products beginning in 2022, and for the halting of the foisting of plastic waste on other nations.

Even before the outbreak of coronavirus, the bill faced serious challenges from the well-connected plastic industry. Now, the pandemic makes its survival prospects even smaller. 

Plastic manufacturers elsewhere in the world have also mounted vigorous lobbying campaigns, but have been largely unsuccessful in derailing plastic bans already in place or those scheduled to go into effect in the foreseeable future. 

While combating the pandemic may necessitate a temporary spike in the use of plastic products, it is crucial that any such increase be conducted in a responsible manner that outlines the manufacturers’ role in dealing with the waste and details a plan to phase out single-use plastic as the threat of the virus subsides.

In developing countries, where populations already drown in wealthy nations’ plastic waste, an uncontrollable and indefinite increase in production of plastic could have disastrous ramifications. Furthermore, as reported by The Intercept, a surge in dumping of plastic waste could make it harder for developing nations to contend with the threat of coronavirus, as many poor individuals already feel compelled to violate shelter-in orders and sift through mounds of plastic products, risking their safety and health in the process. 

Image by Sergei Tokmakov

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