Sustainable Covid-19 protection

Plastic is undoubtedly a problem. If current trends continue, its production will account for about 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and once produced it is notoriously difficult to dispose of. About eight million metric tonnes of the stuff enters our oceans each year and accumulates, proving deadly to many kinds of wildlife. Only a few months after the first cases of an unusual pneumonia appeared in China, certain plastic items – those used for personal protective equipment, or PPE – had become some of the most in-demand items around the world. Much of this is by nature single-use and it must all be disposed of, exacerbating the known problems with plastic waste. So, as the pandemic will be here until we manage the huge feat of vaccinating billions of people, does the future have to be more plastic?  

We need to rethink PPE with sustainability in mind, and this mainly involves two things: moving away from single-use items wherever possible and changing the composition of the materials so they rot at the end of their useful life.