Story at a glance
- A new analysis from Duke University has found that the number of policies created to curb plastic pollution has dropped dramatically during the pandemic.
- More research is needed, and the drop could be due to a lag between when policies are enacted, and international environmental law databases are updated.
- Researchers worry about the outcome of the decrease in policy creation will have on overall pollution.
Efforts to reduce plastic pollution have slowed across the globe since the COVID-19 pandemic started over two years ago, according to a Duke University study.
The new study was crafted by a team at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions after two years of researchers and students updating a searchable global plastics policy database.
Duke’s database now contains information on over 570 public policies targeting plastic pollution in over 30 languages dating back to the year 2000. While the number of new policies to curb plastic pollution has risen over the last 20 years, the study found the trend seemed to stall in 2020 and 2021, according to a brief on the study.
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There were nearly 40 plastic pollutions policies that were introduced or amended across the country in 2019, according to the brief, and that number dropped to under 30 and under 10 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Bans on plastic bags are just one example of some anti-plastic laws stalled during the pandemic. New York passed legislation banning single-use plastic bags just before the pandemic, which took effect on March 1, 2020, six days before former Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the practice of using plastic take-out bags survived for a bit longer after lawmakers postponed enforcing the legislation until that summer. Several other states with similar legislation, including Maine, Oregon and Massachusetts, were also forced to delay implementing their anti-plastic bills.
The drop could be linked to the pandemic, but also signal a lag between the time in which policies are enacted and when they are recorded in journals or international environmental law databases, the brief states.
“We expect to find more policies enacted in 2020 and 2021 with subsequent searches, as the total count will be updated periodically, together with the inventory,” the brief continues.
Although the effects of the ongoing pandemic on plastic pollution and policies need to be studied further, experts worry about how reduced legislation amid increased plastic waste production stemming from the pandemic will worsen existing pollution.
Experts estimate that prior to the pandemic, about 11 million tons of plastic land in oceans, damaging marine life and ecosystems. That number has since gone up with the pandemic fueling increased demands for single-use plastics like face masks, face shields and gloves.
More than eight million tons of pandemic-related plastics have been generated with over 25 million tons entering the world’s oceans, according to a study published last year in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America.
“The overall effect of the ongoing pandemic on plastic pollution and policy implementation is not fully understood yet, but a few findings are beginning to percolate,” lead author of the brief, Rachel Karasik, policy associate at the Nicholas Institute, said in a statement. “The increase in plastic consumption and waste resulting from the pandemic is happening at the same time that many governments are reversing or pausing implementation of plastics policies.
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