COVID-19-Linked Ocean Pollution Risks To Become Global Problem - French NGO

Medical masks and disposable gloves widely used across the world as protective means amid the COVID-19 pandemic may result in the seas and oceans polluted with non-degradable and non-recyclable material, the French environmental organization, Operation Clean Sea, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) Medical masks and disposable gloves widely used across the world as protective means amid the COVID-19 pandemic may result in the seas and oceans polluted with non-degradable and non-recyclable material, the French environmental organization, Operation Clean Sea, told Sputnik.

"For now, the so-called 'COVID-19 rubbish' remains a minority, and we come across just as many plastic bottles, dog waste bags, cigarette stubs. Masks and gloves are something new, and given the number of people using them across the globe, there is the risk they will fast overcome the other types of garbage. This is not a local, but an international problem," the NGO's founder, Laurent Lombard, said.

The organization is working to clean the seabed of the French Mediterranean but says that their efforts are not nearly enough to fight the problem of sea pollution, which did not decrease in the French Riviera even through the period of the pandemic with the lockdown regime putting navigation and beach outings on hold.

"Pollution is still there. Despite all our cleaning efforts we see it again after every thunderstorm ... At least 80 percent of garbage found at sea comes from the land, with the rainwater and rivers. Rubbish of any kind thrown in the street will end up in the sea and ocean," Lombard said.

In some of the French cities, the authorities increased the number of rubbish bins on streets in an attempt to fight the emerging problem. Masks and gloves are mostly made of non-degradable and non-recyclable material. Hospitals are using special costly equipment to dispose of it, but with its use scaled-up worldwide, the problem seems to be over the heads of the municipal authorities.

"The authorities put personnel in place to clean the streets. In certain states, they strongly sanction waste throwing. It is understandable that street cleaners and police officers cannot be put at every corner," Laurent said.

The NGO sees the solution in toughening the penalization of littering.

"The solution will be strengthening the penalty in case of the anti-social behavior, and especially continued outreach to younger generations, for whom we work to clean the sea. As long as there are incivility acts, sea pollution will remain, and, in the meantime, it is that easy � walking 20 meters for throwing your rubbish into the rubbish bin," the NGO's founder concludes.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 5.8 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 360,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.