The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the environment, both positively and negatively. Since the social distancing policy was put in place, the level of air pollution has decreased because people have remained more at home and not using any transportation. However, another surprising news has grabbed our attention that a lot of garbage consisting of masks has been discovered on the coast of Hong Kong appeared to the public.
Through an online public lecture entitled “The Air Pollution and Waste Problem after COVID-19”, President University’s Environmental Engineering lecturer, Filson Maratur Sidjabat, ST., MT., explained more about the effects that a pandemic has on air pollution and waste problems (6/4). “Air pollution and waste problems have a severe effect on our health and immune system,” he said.
Observing the air pollution situation, Filson said that the pandemic had a positive impact. Seen in various countries and cities such as India, Milan, Los Angeles, and even in Indonesia, especially Jakarta, air pollution was decreased drastically during the pandemic. Even so, when we are observing the waste problem, the government of various countries face huge challenges. The demand for disposable PPE has led to an increase in demand for disposable plastics. “As lockdown is lifted, we may find our reliance on plastic has increased. For example, when ordering food, there are more plastic packages for hygiene reasons,” Filson explained. In addition, the amount of medical waste that is increasing and not being treated properly also takes part in the waste problem. “Maybe we can reduce the use of medical masks. For example, for those of us who are not a medical team, we can use cotton masks,” Filson said.
He also mentioned, companies and governments now have an even more urgent responsibility to transition to a circular economy.
Meanwhile, as a graduate of Environmental Engineering, Filson explained that there are two approaches that can be taken to solve environmental problems. “We can see from the engineering point of view, engineering-based on science. It could also be seen in terms of environmental management, namely making regulations or policies,” he explained.
Filson revealed, even though air pollution is currently decreasing, when conditions return to normal or we practice a new normal, air pollution will increase even worse if people still do not care and change their lifestyle. For this reason, everyone must take part in solving environmental problems, one of the easiest one to do is to use public transportation and manage waste. (VE/SL)
Source: https://president.ac.id/p/148-news/detail/720-will-air-pollution-and-waste-problems-decrease-aft