Sustainable management of plastic wastes in COVID-19 pandemic: The biochar solution
Open accessAbstract
To prevent the COVID-19 transmission, personal protective equipment (PPE) and packaging materials have been extensively used but often managed inappropriately, generating huge amount of plastic waste. In this review, we comprehensively discussed the plastic products utilized and the types and amounts of plastic waste generated since the outbreak of COVID-19, and reviewed the potential treatments for these plastic wastes. Upcycling of plastic waste into biochar was addressed from the perspectives of both environmental protection and practical applications, which can be verified as promising materials for environmental protections and energy storages. Moreover, novel upcycling of plastic waste into biochar is beneficial to mitigate the ubiquitous plastic pollution, avoiding harmful impacts on human and ecosystem through direct and indirect micro-/nano-plastic transmission routes, and achieving the sustainable plastic waste management for value-added products, simultaneously. This suggests that the plastic waste could be treated as a valuable resource in an advanced and green manner.
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The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant surge in plastic consumption due to the heightened demand for single-use personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, and an increased reliance on delivery services and online shopping.
“The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant surge in plastic consumption due to the heightened demand for single-use personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, and an increased reliance on delivery services and online shopping [318,319].”
From Biofuels, E-Fuels, and Waste-Derived Fuels: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions (2025) · cites this paper as [318]
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References 144 · Cited by 60
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Ephraim A. Pozzobon V. Louisnard O. Minh D.P. Nzihou A. Sharrock P. Simulat. Biomass Char Gasification Downdraft React. Syngas Prod. 62 4 2016 1079 1091 10.1002/aic · DOI
- Authors
- Igalavithana, A. D., Yuan, X., Attanayake, C. P., Wang, S., You, S., Tsang, D. C. W., Nzihou, A., & Ok, Y. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Peradeniya (LK)
- Korea University (KR)
- Shenyang Agricultural University (CN)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Ok, Yong Sik
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-09
- Volume
- 212
- Issue
- Pt E
- Pages
- 113495
- ISSN
- 0013-9351 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9155208
- OpenAlex
- W4282924744
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 144
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 5
- FWCI
- 0.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ENLIGHTEN (Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling Islam) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Ministry of Education (- 2021R1A6A1A10045235, NRF-2021R1A6A1A10045235)
- Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (2021R1A2C2011734)
- Rural Development Administration
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Korea University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Healthcare and Environmental Waste Management
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Keywords
- plastic waste management, COVID-19 pandemic, biochar, plastic waste upcycling, personal protective equipment, packaging materials, plastic pollution, microplastics, nanoplastics, energy storage, value-added products
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Charcoal, Humans, Plastics, Ecosystem, Pandemics
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