Masks might be saving us, but they’re killing the planet

By Ivy Scott

I remember vividly the first time I saw a mask discarded on the side of the road. It must have been late April, around the time I’d begun to accept that the “risk” of daily walks would be essential in preserving my sanity. It seemed strange at first — the hand-sized piece of polypropylene fabric looked too big to drop by accident — and then symbolic. I catalogued it in my head as a sort of mile-marker, along with the cloth masks that dangled from rear-view mirrors in lieu of dice, and the night that social distancing first appeared in my dreams. 

A year later, COVID waste is ubiquitous. Every walk I take nowadays is interrupted at least once by the need to stop and pick up a fallen mask, discarded pair of gloves, or some other unwanted piece of PPE. Causing damage both on land and at sea, pandemic pollution is highlighting the paradoxical problem of what to do when the very articles that keep us safe are putting the environment in danger. Discarded pieces of personal protective gear that washed up on a beach in Hong Kong.

The question of medical waste is hardly a new one — researchers have been sounding the alarm bell for months now that disposable masks are increasing global plastic waste and threatening marine life. A report published last year by the Hong Kong advocacy group OceanAsia warned that by the end of 2020, oceans would be filled with over 1.5 billion face masks, each of which takes roughly 450 years to decompose. Small animals risk getting tangled in mask loops and glove holes, while larger mammals can mistake PPE for food or ingest it accidentally. 

Wildlife from puffer fish to penguins are continuing to suffer from contaminated seas, but pandemic pollution unfortunately doesn’t stop there. COVID waste also includes secondary sources — remember all those Amazon boxes you had shipped to your doorstep when you gleefully realized you’d never need to leave the house again? Though that material is made to be recycled, social distancing regulations have slowed or stopped operations at many recycling centers, sending leftover recyclables straight to the landfill. Scientists are continuing to search for solutions to these problems, but in the interim, a worldwide shift towards sustainability will likely be a necessary next step in designing our post-pandemic future. 

Ivy Scott is a Globe Opinion contributor.