COVID-19

SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES FOR

PLASTICS

AND PACKAGING WASTE

MANAGEMENT

DURING A PANDEMIC

HEALTHIER AND HAPPIER SOCIETY

Mushtaq Ahmed MEMONUNEP Asia and the Pacific

Working With theEnvironmentto Protect PeopleUNEP’s COVID-19

Response

COVID-19

Working with Environment to Protect People

The United Nations Environment

Programme (UNEP) stands with the

billions of people suffering from

the COVID-19 pandemic. The

immediate priority is to protect

them. But UNEP also has a duty to

help nations build back better after

the pandemic to increase resilience

to future crises.

RESPONSE 1:

The medical &

humanitarian emergency

phase

RESPONSE 2:

A transformational

change

for nature and people

RESPONSE 3:

Investing to build back

better

RESPONSE 4:

Modernizing global

environmental

governance

Plastic Waste before COVID-19

8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced, using 17 million barrels oil each year

80% remains in landfills or the environment, 100 years for plastic to degrade in the

environment, 13 million tonnes of plastic enter ocean each year

1 million plastic bottles, 10 million plastic bags bought every minute

50% of consumer plastics are single use, and 10% of all human-generated waste is

plastic

100,000 marine animals killed by plastics each year

90% of bottled water found to contain plastic particles, 83% of tap water

Source: WED Toolkit 2018

Plastic Waste before COVID-19

Pandemic and Plastic Waste

An alarming increase in waste plastics and a substantial decrease in its recycling.

Main sources of increased waste plastics are related to the use of plastics in medical and

packaging.

The global, regional and national net plastic demand is yet to be assessed in the context

of this pandemic.

The plastic demand in the medical sector to help in combating the COVID-19 including

the face shield (PP), gown (LDPE), vinyl gloves (PVC), disposable bag, tube, masks

(plastic sheet and non-woven fabric) etc.

The vast demand for food delivery or takeout as well as grocery delivery increase PP,

LDPE, HDPE, PETE and PS, which are the common packaging materials

Source: Jaromír Kleme, Yee Van Fan a, Raymond R. Tan b, and Peng Jiang c, “Minimising the

present and future plastic waste, energy and environmental footprints related to COVID-19”

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 127 (2020)

Pandemic and Plastic Waste

Pandemic and Plastic Waste

The Pollution Control Department of

Thailand recently reported that the

amount of plastic waste, especially

plastic packaging, increased by 15%

from 5,500 tonnes per day to 6,300

[because the demand for food

delivery tripled].

In Singapore, an extra 1,334 tonnes

of plastic waste, equivalent to the

weight of 92 double-decker buses,

was generated from takeaway and

delivery meals during the two-month

circuit breaker period of stay-home

curbs, a survey has foundhttps://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-households-generated-

additional-1334-tonnes-plastic-waste-during-circuit-breaker

Pandemic and Plastic Waste

COVID-19 has also led to increase in packaging due to online shopping and home delivery.

There is also change in mindset that packaging and single-use plastics provides “safety”.

The pressure on the governments to address more urgent challenges due to COVID-19, the focus and push on

minimizing waste plastics through various measures including banning and charging has gone slow.

Plastic recycling also got back seat due to the fears of waste plastics being infected and also due to the

lockdown.

This situation has multiplied the amount of waste plastics being dumped in open environments (marine and

land) and its impact on marine life, air quality (due to burning), biodiversity and plantation.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about 450 million tonnes of plastic is

produced each year, 12 million of which ends up in the ocean. The UN Environment Programme said that if this

trend continues with no intervention, the world will have more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2030.

The GMS is already a hotspot for waste plastics and its impacts. This increase in packaging and single-use

plastics will have a divested impact if not addressed quickly.

Lifestyles &

Plastics and

Packaging Waste

Identifying Priorities

Public

Sector

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Private

Sector

Community

Regulatory framework, institutional setup, tariff designing, subsidies and guarantees

Willingness to pay, awareness and will, environmentally friendly lifestylesFinancial share,

technical innovation, managerial role, local knowledge, backward and forward linkages

UNEP’s Support on Sustainable Lifestyles for Plastics

Awareness RaisingCampaigns (Beat Plastic Pollution, Breakup with Plastics, Pollution Free Planet, etc.)

Goodwill Ambassadors (Messaging, Showcasing their work, Influencers, etc.)

Dialogues (SEA of Solutions, Stakeholders’ Engagement, Consumers-Producer Perspective, etc.)

Guidance and TrainingAssessment, Interventions, Instruments, CounterMeasures, SEA Circular, SWITC-Asia, Green Campuses,

Nudging, Take-back

Startups for Low Carbon Lifestyle Challenge

Policy Guidance for Lifestyles to address Plastics

Policy Guidance for Lifestyles to address Plastics

Policy Guidance for Lifestyles to address Plastics

Policy Guidance for Lifestyles to address Plastics

Policy Guidance for Lifestyles to address Plastics

Source: UNEP

Winners: Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge

2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ncnbGMQdCc

Upcoming Activities with Asian Institute of Technology

1) chains in COVID time – Graph of Industry forecast in 2018-2019 (pre COVID) and in 2020-2021 (with COVID)

2) Plastics in Municipal Solid Waste – Pie chart before and during COVID 19

3) Pandemics shifting preferences: Hygiene and Food safety Vs Sustainability

4) Review of Guidelines/Policies for COVID-19 by different countries with implications on plastic management including plastic

pollution prevention/ reduction effort: Differences, Implications and drawbacks, in key sectors (e.g. food, catering, hospitality)

5) Mixing of healthcare wastes and domestic waste: comprehending the magnitude of issue by data, statistics, and health

implications

1) COVID 19 and changes in healthcare plastic waste management

A) Introduction to Healthcare plastics and treatment of COVID 19 healthcare plastics.

Pandemic-specific plastic management (How diseases like SARS, Ebola and COVID 19 are different from each other)

Best Suited plastic treatment technologies for healthcare, Recommendation for future pandemics

Infographics - Different technologies, suitability and drawbacks

Approximate Quantification of masks, gloves and other plastic products in different countriesInformal Sectors and dumped PPEs; health issues associated with disposal of plastics. The Number of people affected overall the world (or) at the risk of getting affectedDevelopment of Vaccines and future strategies to control plastic disposalPossible quantification of Plastic vaccines and their way of treatmentRecommendations or Instruments to shift back the current changes to achieve Circular Economy Goals Different instruments and their implementations. Possible hurdles in implementing the policy instruments

Upcoming Activities with Asian Institute of Technology

1) COVID 19 and Food Packaging/ Takeaway containers

Introduction to food packaging and Takeaway containers and changes due to the Corona Pandemic – Amount in

Plastics before and during COVID 19

A) Policy Options to tackle food packaging and takeaway containers in different parts of the world

A graph showing implementation of policy options at different part of the world.

A) Issue of Bulk purchasing and data supporting the growth of sales of products (Panic Purchasing)

B) Cancelling Reusable Packaging Schemes – Case studies of Food chains, Restaurants and lobbyists taking advantage of

the situation

A map showing different places and implementation of cancelling the reusable schemes

A) Polystyrene Packaging and Disposal

Quantification of increase in packaging and disposal in the form of Table or charts

A) Innovations in Plastic Packaging Industries (Based on Webinar Reducing Single-Use Plastics in Food Deliveries and

Takeaway: Experiences from Europe and East-and Southeast Asia)

1) Industrial Plastic Packaging – Correlation with GDP and changes due to COVID 19

Upcoming Activities with Asian Institute of Technology

1) E-Commerce – Incremental Growth of the Online Platforms and Delivery schemes

a) Data showing E-commerce sales data and plastic packaging material disposal

b) Short-term and long-term implications – Corresponding to Sustainable Plastic Packaging Goals and change in timeline

for reaching the goals – Rationale behind change in resetting timelines

1) Research Gaps

A) Quantification of COVID 19 healthcare plastics in Asia

B) Policies for handling and reducing plastic disposal during Pandemics

C) Rehabilitation of dumpsites after pandemics

1) Solutions and Good Practices

A) Policy, technical, financing, and stakeholder engagement

B) Business models including startups

C) Sustainable lifestyles

Priorities and

Discussion

Points

Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and

Recycle

Consumer-

Producer

Interactive

Platform

NudgingQuality of Life

Win-Win

Selection of appropriate

Products and Services focusing

on Reduction of Plastics and

Packaging Waste

Awareness on creating synergy

among individual choices and

community choices for zero

plastic pollution

Thank you!

Mushtaq Memon, Regional Coordinator, Regional Coordinator for Resource

Efficiency, UNEP Asia Pacific Office / memon@un.org