MANILA, Philippines—The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has unleashed not just a public health catastrophe, but also a plastic waste pandemic.
As lockdowns forced millions of people to stay home, a deluge of plastic products went past right under our noses, driven by that button on online shopping sites that says “add to cart.”
As the lockdowns emptied mall stores of workers and customers, the rise in online shopping broke records, opening the doors to thousands of deliveries. The use of protective gear made of plastic, like face shields, also went up the roof.
The shift in shopping behavior spurred by the pandemic became a wake-up call for many people on the disastr…
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