How Are We Managing Our Waste During Covid-19
The pandemic has reminded us how we have been underestimating the importance of waste management.
It’s an undeniable fact that we’re going through unprecedented times in human history. The outbreak of COVID-19 has not only affected our health systems but has also reminded us of the bigger picture we have forgotten: our systems are deeply connected to each other and this means if one fails badly, others will suffer too.
It might not have crossed our minds while being very busy talking about the economy, but the coronavirus has brought great challenges to the waste sector all over the world as well. One reason for the scarcity of news about how the waste management sector has been affected during the pandemic is that no one likes to talk about trash. But trash is not merely something to be thrown away and then forgotten. If we want to enhance the quality of life on Earth we should be taking responsibility for our actions and talk about how to process our waste.
During the lockdown, many people have had to shift their attention from the outside world to their own living space. As a result of this major change, people have spent more time on decluttering as a way to unwind. Inevitably, the capacities of household recycling centers have filled up and governments have even had to ask their citizens to keep some items until after the pandemic.
This has been a great wake up call to show us how unaware we are of our cycle of consumption, and how little of what we have is really necessary. The problem is not throwing things away. The problem is participating in the growth of a mass industry which is fed by impulsive consumption and is in return creating an enormous amount of waste to be disposed of with inadequate methods.
Meanwhile, the use of plastic-based protective equipment such as masks, gloves, and disinfectant bottles has contributed greatly to the increase of infected domestic waste.
However, the majority of the authorities aren’t prepared to safely manage the situation. They don’t have efficient tools, which don’t require human labor, nor meticulously prepared plans to ensure public hygiene. Consequently, relying on human labor for waste management has unfolded the unsafe conditions which the workers have to perform under.
Needless to say, healthcare waste management systems were hit by the virus too.
During the active pandemic in Wuhan, China, healthcare waste has doubled in amount (UN, 2020). A similar rapid increase in healthcare waste occurred almost simultaneously everywhere in the world. Especially developing countries weren’t ready to cope with the enormous amount of highly contaminated medical waste. That is why a huge amount of hazardous medical waste has ended up in landfills.
As all these mismanagements point out, it’s time to realize that each individual’s behavior matters. If we can be more conscious about our consuming behaviors we will automatically be taking responsibility in waste management by minimizing our own waste. It’s time to create better working conditions for waste management workers who do the most underrated, yet important job under the toughest conditions while we get paranoid even after touching our trash with our fingertips. Also, it’s time to acknowledge that a well-functioning waste management system is not a luxury, it’s an essential part of a healthy life cycle in the long term.
It’s still possible to see this pandemic as a unique opportunity to recognize what we have been doing wrong and how we can turn the situation into our favor. After all, taking a more constructive approach would definitely be more effective than cursing 2020 in numerous different ways.
This blog has been submitted to the 2020 ISWA YPG Blog-writing Competition. The ISWA Young Professionals Group is dedicated to (and coordinated by) young professionals to encourage them to be proactive and support them in building their careers in the waste industry. #ISWAYPGblog2020 #TheFaceBehindMyWaste
References
Covid-19: The impact of the pandemic on the waste sector. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/news/9076/covid-19-the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-the-waste-sector/
International Finance Cooperation. (2020, June). Covid-19’s impact on the waste sector. Retrieved from https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/dfbceda0-847d-4c16-9772 15c6afdc8d85/202006-COVID-19-impact-on-waste sector.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=na-eKpI
You, S., Sonne, C., Ok, Y. S. (2020). COVID-19’s unsustainable waste management. Science, 368(6498), 1–3. doi: 10.1126/science.abc7778
United Nations Environment Programme. (2020). Waste management during the Covid-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/WMC-19.pdf
