Based on the research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the coronavirus pandemic has made over eight million tonnes of plastic waste internationally with more than 25,000 tonnes coming into the ocean, reported the PTI.
The research found that a major part of this ocean plastic debris is anticipated to come into beaches or the seabed in three to four years. A small part will make its way into the open ocean, getting trapped in the centre of the ocean basins that will form into garbage patches and come together in the Arctic Ocean.
According to the researchers, COVID-19 has surged the demand for single-use plastics. Some of the resulting waste that goes into rivers and oceans is further pressurizing the already intense international plastic issue.
Researchers at Nanjing University in China and the University of California (UC) San Diego, U.S. led the team and utilized a recently curated ocean plastic numerical model to study the quantification impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the discharge of plastic from sources on the land.
The statistics used were from the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 throughout August 2021, realizing that the majority of the global plastic waste coming into the ocean is from Asia with a significant amount of land discharge from the hospital waste.
The study emphasized the need for enhanced management of medical waste from the developing country.
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