Another victim of Covid-19: World's plan to ditch single-use plastic

Just weeks ago, cities and even states across the US were busy banning straws, limiting takeout containers and mandating that shoppers bring reusable bags or pay a small fee for one at stores. This was part of a movement to eliminate single-use plastics, not just in the US but many countries across the world.

In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for a ban on single-use plastic from the ramparts of Red Fort on August  15 last year. "During my 2014 speech, I spoke about cleanliness. It became a movement in the country and the common man took it up with gusto. Today, I have another request. By October 2, on the birth anniversary of Dear Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), I want to urge citizens to give up single-use plastic," Modi had said in his address on the 73rd Independence Day. 

In a matter of days, hard-won bans to reduce the use of plastics and particularly plastic shopping sacks across the US have come under fire amid worries about the virus clinging to reusable bags, cups and straws.

Governors in Massachusetts and Illinois have banned or strongly discouraged the use of reusable grocery bags. Oregon suspended its brand-new ban on plastic bags this week, and cities from Bellingham, Washington, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, have announced a hiatus on plastic bag bans as the coronavirus rages.

Add to that a rise in takeout and a ban on reusable cups and straws at the few coffee stores that remain open, and environmentalists worry Covid-19 could set back their efforts to tackle plastic pollution for years.

People are scared for their lives, their livelihood, the economy, feeding their loved ones, so the environment is taking a back seat, Glen Quadros, owner of the Great American Diner & Bar in Seattle, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Quadros has laid off 15 employees and seen a 60 per cent decline in business since Seattle all but shut down to slow the pandemic. For now, he's using biodegradable containers for takeout and delivery, but those products cost up to three times more than plastic and they're getting hard to find because of the surge in takeout, he said.

The plastics industry in the US has seized the moment and is lobbying hard to overturn bans on single-use plastics by arguing disposable plastics are the safest option amid the crisis. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont have statewide bans on plastic bags, and Oregon and California have laws limiting the use of plastic straws.

New York's statewide plastic bag ban is on hold because of a lawsuit.

The US Plastics Industry Association recently sent a letter to Alex Azar, head of the US Department of Health and Human Services, and asked him to speak out against plastic bag bans because they put consumers and workers at risk. And the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance is doubling down on its opposition to plastic bag bans under a preexisting campaign titled Bag the Ban.

If those bags coming into the store are contaminated with anything, they get put on the conveyor belt, the counter, and you're putting yourself in a bad spot, said Matt Seaholm, executive director of the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance.