Coronavirus: Used Face-Masks Wash Up At Mumbai Beaches; How They Pose A Long-Lasting Threat?

Discarded face masks are finding their way to the oceans and are becoming a big cause of pollution in Mumbai beaches.

Representative Image / AFP PHOTO / PUNIT PARANJPE

Mumbai: As the coronavirus pandemic continues across the world, there has been an increase in medical waste around the world. The discarded face masks, PPE kits are also finding their way to the oceans. According to reports, now apart from single-use plastic waste which is the biggest ocean pollutants, now a large number of used face masks are also washing up in the shores of Mumbai. Volunteer Organisations involved in the cleaning of beaches are observing large amounts of medical waste especially face masks in beaches. “We have been told to use face masks by the government. But they have not given a proper way for us to discard it. I feel once Covid 19 pandemic is over we will have to face a greater threat of pollution,” said a volunteer from Beach Please, a youth initiative that is involved in the cleaning of beaches in Mumbai. Medical waste such as PPE kits and face masks are fast emerging as the latest threat to the environment. Several cities in India are reporting a rise in waste and are struggling to discard the bio-medical waste. Without any guidelines on how medical waste has to be discarded, most people just dump biomedical waste in regular bins which then finds its way to landfills and poses a threat to waste pickers, sanitation workers, and garbage collectors. According to a PTI report, two common bio-medical waste treatment facilities (CBWTFs) namely, SMS Water Grace BMW Private Limited in Nilothi in West Delhi and Biotic Waste Solutions Private Limited in Jahangirpuri which has an operational capacity of 12 tonnes and 34 tonnes per day, respectively were together disposing of around 19 tonnes of COVID and 16 tonnes on non-COVID bio-medical waste per day in July. The report also said that waste plants are working beyond their usual capacity. According to a Tribune India article, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data, pointed out that the state generated an average of 2,700 kg of COVID biomedical waste every day in June. According to an Indian Express report, a Delhi-based waste management expert Swati Singh Sambyal said that only 70 percent of this waste is going to the incinerators, 30 percent of it is dumped outside the hospital or on the roads.