Pandemic-related plastic waste has contributed millions of tons to global pollution

Nature · Published 21 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Researchers using an ocean plastic model found that the COVID-19 pandemic generated an estimated 8.4 ± 1.4 million tons of plastic waste across 193 countries as of August 2021. Their study shows that roughly 25.9 ± 3.8 thousand tons of this waste were released into the global ocean, representing about 1.5% of total riverine plastic discharge.

The study found that hospital waste accounts for 73% of this global discharge, with 72% of the waste originating from Asia. The researchers used the MITgcm ocean plastic model to track how this debris moves, projecting that much of it will eventually settle on the seabed or beaches, including the formation of an accumulation zone in the Arctic.

While the model provides a way to quantify these impacts, the findings are based on projections of how plastic moves through the ocean over time.

Why it matters: The pandemic significantly increased the demand for single-use plastics, contributing a measurable amount of waste to the global ocean.

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• Global plastic production reaches 370 million tons with very low recycling rates
• Ocean plastic particle density has been rapidly increasing since 2005
• The global plastic cycle is currently functioning as an industrial scam
• Plastic waste has infiltrated every corner of our oceans, from surface to deepest depths.
• Plastic pollution has become pervasive across the Arctic ecosystem
• Ocean warming significantly alters marine ecosystems and climate patterns
• Plasticity can either shield or fuel evolution in new environments
• Polar and subpolar coastal waters drive most of the global ocean carbon sink
• Ocean depth and surface productivity drive how much oxygen the seabed consumes
• Power structures and entrenched interests hinder the transition to a low-carbon world
• Ocean acidification threatens marine life by altering seawater chemistry and skeletal formation
• Predicting floods and droughts requires overcoming complex modeling and data challenges

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