Impact of single-use plastics associated with tourism

Greetings dear friends.

At the beginning of this pandemic we saw with astonishment a small respite that the confinement gave to the planet, thanks to the restrictions of mobilization that decreased flights and transportation we saw a decrease in air pollution in some cities. But that joy was short-lived as we soon saw the negative side of the pandemic on the environment, an excessive increase in single-use plastic products, not only masks and associated gloves but also bags and packaging due to the high demand for take-out meals.

Waste from single-use plastic products has increased at a worrying rate. Source: pxhere.com.

And as many countries are reopening their borders and showing signs of recovery from this devastating pandemic, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a new report that addresses the complex situation surrounding single-use plastic products in travel and tourism; as we all know, a large amount of disposable water bottles, bags and toiletry containers associated with travel end up polluting beaches and parks in the absence of proper management.

Well, this United Nations report appears at this time to start tracking the use of single-use plastic products in the travel and tourism industry and determine their importance in the value chain of this sector, with the purpose of identifying the points that represent a waste leakage and generate the necessary strategies for their control by companies and other responsible parties.

The main objective of this report is to provide assistance to responsible parties to join efforts in the implementation of coordinated actions leading to reduction and reuse models. The main recommendations of the report point out which single-use plastic products are unnecessary in the context of the companies themselves and how to give preference to suppliers of reusable products, in addition to encouraging innovation in the design of service models where the consumption of disposable plastics is as reduced as possible, on the other hand, it is also recommended to design strategies to avoid raising again the consumption of disposable plastic products in the case of outbreaks of new diseases.

It is necessary to control this type of waste in the tourism sector since it accumulates and contaminates the environment. Source: pxhere.com.

The authors point out that this pandemic has shown that urgent action is needed and that this very situation has accelerated the sustainability agenda, so that companies and policy makers must pay more attention to it. Their priority now is for companies to reduce the generation of single-use plastic product waste and drive circularity.

The volume of waste derived from single-use plastic items has increased, as safety is the main concern of tourists, and the use of take-away food service is also on the rise. But this type of material is very hazardous to the health of people and the environment, and we can only see solutions that contribute significantly to solving the problem if the responsible sectors unify their efforts. A unified effort among the different responsible sectors can and will contribute significantly to solving this problem.

At the very least, this report recognizes the need for global solutions to address the problem, and offers important recommendations for responsible actors in the tourism industry to take the lead in shifting to a greener model to control waste streams of single-use plastic products, placing more value on reuse and circularity in their processes.

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Thanks for coming by to read friends, I hope you liked the information. See you next time.

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