Previously submitted to: Interactive Journal of Medical Research (no longer under consideration since Sep 11, 2023)
Date Submitted: Dec 29, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Plastic Pandemic after Covid-19- A Global Health Concern
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic has increased the amount of plastic burden to the environment and the complexities of plastic waste management. Changes in behavioral patterns with the advent of this pandemic led to increased practice of hygiene and increased use of different types of personal protective equipment. Unfortunately, the rapid rise in production of the PPEs (like Hazmat suits, gloves, etc.) and single-use plastics used in RT-PCR and other testing are the biggest source for increased non-biodegradable plastic waste leading to amplified burden on plastic waste management. A number of measures like prioritizing the policies directed towards changes at behavioral, social, and institutional levels need to be started. Also, a reduction in plastic waste along with proper plastic waste management policies should be implemented. To prevent the transition from one pandemic to other; improvement in government policies with public-private partnerships is the need of the hour.
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