Plastic pollution induced by the COVID-19: Environmental challenges and outlook

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has also caused an environmental challenge, especially plastic pollution. This study is aimed to provide a systematic review of the current status and outlook of research on plastic pollution caused by the COVID-19 pandemic using a bibliometrics approach. The results indicate developed countries were the first to pay attention to the impact of plastics on the ocean and ecological environment during COVID-19 and conducted related research, and then developing countries followed up and started research. Research in developed countries is absolutely dominant in plastic pollution induced by the COVID-19, although the plastic pollution faced by developing countries is also very serious. The author’s co-occurrence analysis shows the Matthew effect. Keyword clustering shows that plastics have a harsh chain-like impact on the ecological environment from land to ocean to atmosphere. The non-degradable components of plastic bring a serious impact the ocean ecosystems, and then pose a serious threat to the entire ecosystem environment. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]