Why the Coronavirus crisis is bad news for ocean plastic pollution…
You may have been one of the many who, like me, started seeing photos on social media of dolphins coming back to Italy, deer roaming around London and badgers in the streets of France and who thought: “Maybe there is a silver lining to this crisis, nature may be able to recover from some of the manmade damage we have caused…” You may even have thought that this was good news for the future and that we may finally be seeing the end of all the environmental destruction we have caused. Unfortunately, one of nature’s worst enemies, plastic, might just be getting ready to cause more damage than ever.
Before the crisis went into full swing and most economies around the world shut their doors, there were announcements from the likes of Unilever, Coca-Cola and Nestle committing to reducing virgin plastic usage and to recycling more and more of what they produce. Governments were rolling out bans on single use plastics around the world. Increasingly, people were waking up to the dangers of plastic pollution and demanding that we take responsibility for our waste and that we stop polluting. Momentum was building towards a world without single use plastics and oceans free from the blight of ocean plastic pollution.
Now, all this could be set to change and even to reverse. Not only have the headlines moved away from: “Uninhabited island found covered in plastics”, “Floating debris in the ocean cover an area twice the size of Texas” and “More plastic than fish in the sea by 2050” but in many ways the plastic situation is already getting worse and the stage is set for it to deteriorate.
The Coronavirus has caused a significant collapse in worldwide markets. The price of crude oil is lower than it has been in years. Plastic is made from petrol. What does this mean? Virgin plastic is cheaper to produce today than has been the case in the past five years. With the price of petrol having collapsed, the gap between recycled and new materials has widened, making new plastics much more financially attractive. To make matters worse, the increased demand for recycled materials has driven their price up making them even more unaffordable when compared to the new and reduced costs of buying virgin plastics.
The lockdown of nonessential industries has forced many recycling plants worldwide to operate at reduced capacity or even shut down. This reduced supply of recycled materials on the market will undoubtably drive their price up making them, yet again, less financially viable. This lockdown does not only impact recycled plastic pricing however, but also the volume of waste plastics being recycled. Only about 9% of the world’s plastics have ever been recycled. Now more than ever, we need to transform our effectiveness in managing plastic waste. Yet now is when our recycling plants are forced to shut down, but our waste production remains higher than ever.
To protect people from the virus we have banned the use of reusable coffee cups, upped the production of face masks and increased plastic packaging of food goods. These are all sensible measures to halt the spread of the disease and minimise loss of life. What will their impact be on ocean plastic pollution though? Already, we find face masks littering the ground and beaches around the world, unrecyclable coffee cups are being used more often and superfluous plastic packaging has returned to the supermarket shelves. Bottom line, plastic is cheaper to make, we are using it more AND we are recycling it less.
Yes, these are desperate times and require desperate measures but let us not underestimate the impact that this crisis is already having on our oceans. The seas are not getting cleaner, quite the contrary. Beach cleans have been cancelled but we are throwing away more plastic than ever. Once the dust settles, will we be able to repair the damage that has already been made or will we keep making it worse? The economic downturn faced by most companies will see them cutting costs where they can. With virgin plastic being so cheap and recycled plastic comparatively so expensive, how many brands will stick to their sustainability commitments once the financial pressure really starts building? The value of the word of these corporations will be exposed if they come back on their promises in the name of financial gain.
It will be up to each and every citizen to regain the lost ground and push for businesses, industries and governments to keep their promises when it comes to sustainability. If we are not responsible for our actions and plastic use, we are dooming our oceans and all life within them. As consumers, the power will be ours to hold organisations to account and make sure we only support those that fulfil their pledge of giving up new plastic. It will be our responsibility to elect politicians who commit the necessary funding for recycling technologies. Do not think this health crisis will bring in a new era of sustainability and restore nature to thriving state by itself. The opposite is true.
Nobody can make a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he can do only a little. Now more than ever is when we need to recognise our true power and to use it for the good of all.
