Corona pandemic and plastic pollution: a way forward

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nt. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 33, No. 4, 2024 453
Copyright © 2024 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Corona pandemic and plastic pollution: a way
forward
Mehjabin Tishan Mahfuz
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research,
Bangladesh, 68, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani,
Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh
Email: tishan.mahfuz@icddrb.org
M. Sarwar Jahan and Shakhawat Hossain
Bangabandhu Textile Engineering College,
Kalihati, Tangail, Bangladesh
and
BSCL Scientific Research Laboratory,
Bombay Sweets & Co. Ltd.,
KA-63, Kuratoli, Kuril Bishwa Road, Khilkhet,
Dhaka, 1229, Bangladesh
Email: sarwarjahan235@gmail.com
Email: 898postbox@gmail.com
Mubarak A. Khan*
BSCL Scientific Research Laboratory,
Bombay Sweets & Co. Ltd.,
KA-63, Kuratoli, Kuril Bishwa Road, Khilkhet,
Dhaka, 1229, Bangladesh
and
Bangladesh Jute Mill’s Corporation,
Ministry Jute and Textile, Bangladesh
Email: makhan.inst@gmail.com
*Corresponding author
Abstract: COVID-19 is a corona virus with high rate of human-to-human
transmission and mortality. One major consequence of COVID-19 pandemic is
the increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE), an essential
component for the protection against COVID-19 and other transmissible
diseases for healthcare workers and general population. Most of the PPE and
biological wrapping materials are made of a petroleum-based polymer,
which is non-biodegradable and leads to environmental pollution. This article
discusses the preparation and characterisation of a completely biodegradable
hybrid biopolymer, made of jute-cellulose derivative with oligo-chitosan.
physico-mechanical, thermal, and degradable properties of cellulose-chitosan
biopolymer (CCBP) were studied. The tensile strength of the CCBP is 45 MPa,
soluble in normal water, and soapy water within seven days and three minutes.

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It degrades in soil with 2–3 months. This technology is aimed to lessen the
environmental burden of plastic pollution through accumulation in landfills and
air pollution through incineration.
Keywords: corona virus; SARS CoV-2; COVID-19; chitosan; oligo-chitosan;
jute polymer; personal protective equipment; PPE; plastic pollution.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Mahfuz, M.T., Jahan, M.S.,
Hossain, S. and Khan, M.A. (2024) ‘Corona pandemic and plastic pollution: a
way forward’, Int. J. Environment and Waste Management, Vol. 33, No. 4,
pp.453–464.
Biographical notes: Mehjabin Tishan Mahfuz is a medical graduate and
obtained her MPH majoring in Epidemiology. She is currently working as a
Research Investigator in a Social Health Research Institutes for 6+ years with
extensive experience in public health and epidemiological research. She has
experience in conducting both qualitative and quantitative studies, starting from
protocol development, proposal and grant writing, study implementation,
monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, manuscript and report writing. She
has organised and conducted several stakeholder meetings.
M. Sarwar Jahan is working in the BSCL Scientific Research Laboratory
working as a Scientific Officer role. He has graduated from the Bangabandhu
Textile Engineering College at University of Dhaka. He was previously worked
in Sonali Bag Project. He has 3+ years’ experienced in environmental
sustainable product development. His research interests are situated in the
fields of natural polymer, eco-friendly bio-material, sustainable material
development, sustainable environment developments, composite material and
organic agriculture cultivation.
Shakhawat Hossain is working in the BSCL Scientific Research Laboratory
working as a Scientific Officer role. He has graduated from the Bangabandhu
Textile Engineering College at University of Dhaka. He was previously worked
in Sonali Bag Project. He has 3+ years’ experienced in environmental
sustainable product development. His research interests are situated in the
fields of natural polymer, eco-friendly bio-material, sustainable material
development, sustainable environment developments, composite material and
organic agriculture cultivation.
Mubarak A. Khan is a Scientific Adviser of the Bangladesh Jute Mill’s
Corporation under Ministry Jute and Textile in Bangladesh. He was also the
Former Director General (PRL) of Atomic Energy Research Establishment at
the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission. His research interests are situated
in the fields of environmental pollution, sustainable environment developments,
eco-friendly bio-material, organic agriculture cultivation, recycling, human
environment interactions, public health and social measures, natural polymer
and sustainable material-development.
1 Introduction
On 20 December 2019, a large number of patients with pneumonia of unfamiliar cause
was linked to Wuhan under the Province Hubei of Republic China Mainland. Unbiased
genome sequencing from human airway epithelial cells of affected patients showed an

Corona pandemic and plastic pollution 455
unknown beta-coronavirus, with phylogenetic similarity with SARS CoV and named
SARS CoV-2 (Del Rio and Malani, 2020; Haushofer and Metcalf, 2020; Zhu et al.,
2020). SARS CoV-2 consists of lipid bilayer where contains at least four proteins:
envelope (E), spike (S), nucleocapsid (N) and membrane (M) (Wang et al., 2020; Wu
et al., 2020). This virus evolves its transmission behaver, source, and its mutation
accelerates in different environments. The diameter of the human pathogen
approximately 60 nm–140 nm and spike approximately 9 nm–12nm (Zhu et al., 2020).
SARS-CoV-2 stable on plastic surface 72 hours, on cloth surface more or less 48-hour,
on surgical equipment up to seven-days (Chin et al., 2020; Van Doremalen et al., 2020).
SARS CoV-2 retains on smooth surfaces over five days at testing environments.
However, SARS CoV-2 viability is quickly lost at higher relative humidity and higher
temperature (e.g., up to 95% relative humidity and > 38°C) (Lai et al., 2005). COVID-19
may persist on material surfaces for up to nine days. So, virus infectivity on surfaces
can be disinfection sodium hypochlorite, ethanol, isopropanol, formaldehyde,
glutardialdehyde, gaseous ozone, povidone-iodine, benzalkonium chloride chloroxylenol,
chlorhexidine and ultraviolet C (UV-C) light. The high energy level UV (range 180 nm to
320 nm where peak point is 265 nm) can damage DNA and RNA by the cross-link uracil
nucleotides and thymidine thus stopping the replication of Microorganism (e.g., viruses
and bacteria) (Card et al., 2020; Challacombe et al., 2020; Fathizadeh et al., 2020; Kampf
et al., 2020; Percivalle et al., 2021). SARS CoV-2 can be stable for up to 14 days at 4°C
but can be inactivated within five minutes at 70°C, can easily be cultured in standard
temperature and humidity (22°C ± 2 and 65% ± 2) (Chin et al., 2020) personal protective
equipment (PPE) is an essential component, especially for healthcare service providers
and other frontline workers who come in contact with infected patients (ECDC, 2020).
Healthcare workers and the infective individuals both are should use PPE, i.e., medical
mask, gowns, eye protector, and gloves to prevent transmission (Huang et al., 2020;
Verbeek et al., 2020). There is various category of PPE, including surgical face marks,
eye protector, gloves, gowns, powered air-purifying respirators and non-powered face
piece respirators (Canelli et al., 2020; HSE, 2020; Ong et al., 2020). WHO (2020b)
recommends certain PPE required for each patient/day those are given in Table 1.
Table 1 Different safety equipment is needed for the patient per day
Safety requirements Unit
Gown 25
Medical mask 25
Particulate respirator (N95, FFP2, FFP3 or equivalent) 1
Gloves, non-sterile 50
Goggles OR face shield 1
Note: FFP2 – respiratory protection mask.
Increased use of plastic-based PPE has already shown its visible impact for waste
generation by polluting sea beaches, rivers, agriculture land and seafloor (Dunphy, 2020).

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2 Chitosan and use against virus
Chitosan is a polysaccharide natural composed which is randomly assign
N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and β-linked D-glucosamine. It is the ample amount in natural
amino polysaccharide and originates from various types of shells, which is a plentiful
byproduct in the food processing industry (Lee et al., 2009). Chitosan is extracted by
deacetylation of chitin has been widely used for its non-toxic, biocompatible behaviour
and has a very good antimicrobial property (Wang et al., 2004; Zivanovic et al., 2005;
Goy et al., 2016; Vilar et al., 2016). Monophosphoryl-lipid and chitosan have shown to
be effective against norovirus. Chitosan can be protective against infection of H7N9
(influenza-A) virus, A/Chicken/Jiangsu/7/2002 (H9N2), A/California/7/2009 (H1N1),
and influenza H1N1 virus (Atmar et al., 2011; Zheng et al., 2016; Timin et al., 2017).
The sulphated polysaccharide polymer can bind the glycoprotein of HIV present on the
appearance of new virions and persistently virus-infected cells. It is assumed to interact
with envelope glycoproteins of several viruses. Non-enveloped viruses (adenovirus,
reovirus and picornavirus) are inhibited by the sulphated polysaccharide (De Clercq,
1993). The polysaccharides sulphated polymer is used for subdue of HIV-1 virus
replication in-vitro and coagulation of blood inhibiting. Anti-retroviral protein agent
delivers from O-2 or O-3 sulphation which show the good inhibitory result on the
infection of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in vitro and strongly inhibit
blood-coagulation 6-O sulphated chitin (Nishimura et al., 1998). Polysaccharide polymer
can block in vitro infection by different viruses and C. trachomatis, thus shows good
activities for HSV-1, HSV-2 virus prevention (Kuo et al., 1973; De Clercq, 1993;
Zaretzky et al., 1995; Petronio et al., 1997). The anionic chitosan polymer can inhibit
retroviral infection is usually similar to the properties of sulphated polysaccharides, i.e.,
dextran heparin, sulphate, and others. The exact mechanism and effectiveness of
inhibition depends on the position of sulphate-groups in glucosamine-residues (Chirkov,
2002). Chitosan reacts easily with cellulose derivative due to the presence of –OH and
–NH2 group in its chemical structure. In the acidic medium it can soluble easily and also
behaves like a cationic polyelectrolyte in solution. Chitosan has higher positive charge
density make higher antimicrobial behaver and chitosan derivatives have strong
electrostatic attraction. Chitosan and its derivatives antimicrobial properties relay on
solution of PH parameter. Chitosan solution with higher pH shows weak inhibitory
activity (Kong et al., 2010). At pH 7, a large number of a positively uncharged amino
group causes antimicrobial inactivity due to the poor solubility of chitosan (Qin et al.,
2006). So, to increase the antimicrobial effect pH of the polymer mixture was maintained
2–3.
3 Consequences of COVID-19 waste
PPEs are playing a vital role in pandemic time to protect from COVID-19 but they made
of plastic that is disposed in the environment to be dumped in landfills or incinerated.
Single used PPE dumped landfill or incinerated is not right technique for safe
environment and maximum country do not get preferable place for safe environment.
Large amount of PPE waste generally goes to land which become make environmental
littered (Singh et al., 2020). Medical waste in many countries are unregulated, leading to
environmental contamination of plastic, which are then converted into micro-plastics

Corona pandemic and plastic pollution 457
containing pesticides and other harmful chemicals (Platts, 2020; Sangal, 2020). Many
researchers suggest that micro-plastics are harmful for aquatic animal and organisms,
human foods chain, which is adverse effect in safe environment. Actually, inaccurate
dispose PPE (plastic grown, gloves, marks, face shield) found on ocean beds, beaches,
river, and urban environment. Generally, PPE manufacturing in slow breakdown
plastic component, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate,
polyacrylonitrile and polyurethane. During the COVID-19 pandemic 129 billion masks,
and approximately 65 billion hand gloves has been used each month. Approximately
450 years is need to discompose of surgical face marks and some plastic PPE can
decompose time expansion 1,000 years. In cause of plastic pollution increase toxicity in
ecosystem and wildlife can be injure (Dean, 2020; Singh et al., 2020). National Health
Service of England labels PPEs as infectious, offensive or municipal which means
disposal equipment essential to prevent disease transmission to the large population
(Fletcher, 2020).
In COVID-19 pandemic, environment pollution by plastic base PPE is threaten to
achieve United Nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The lack of
international coordination to produce plastic base PPE and waste management is liable
pandemic plastic pollution. Plastic-base PPE compound is barrier to achieve UN SDGs
and make environmental and health risk (Singh et al., 2020). This larger use of PPEs call
for development of biodegradable PPEs that is harmless for the environment.
4 Experimental material and methods
4.1 Material
There are two natural derivatives used in the study: jute polymer collected from Sonali
Bag project, Lotif Bayani Jute Mill, Dhaka, Bangladesh and shrimp shells collected from
local fish market, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Radiation sources are used Bangladesh Atomic
Energy Establishment, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
4.2 Extraction of chitosan and preparation of oligo-chitosan
Shells is the major source of chitosan, e.g., shrimp, crawfish, prawn, crabs, others.
Chitosan can also be extracted from eggshells, peels of onion, garlic, ginger, and potato
(Vignesh et al., 2018; Muthu et al., 2021). There are three traditional steps for isolation of
chitin from the waste of shells which are demineralisation, deproteinisation, and
decolourisation (Al Hoqani et al., 2020). Chitosan has got from deacetylation process the
primary component shells which called chitin. Then the chitosan is irradiated by Co-60
gamma-ray at different doges (5–100 kGy at a rate of 1,000 kradh−1) (Rashid et al., 2012;
Muley et al., 2019).
4.3 Preparation of biodegradable PPE
Recently developed and fully biodegradable biopolymer (cellulose polymer) is made
from jute cellulose along with other additives using solution casting. This polymer is
water-soluble, biodegradable, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. Single-use
shopping bags named ‘Sonali Bag’ are made of this polymer sheet (DW, 2020).

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Mechanical, thermal soil degradation, water solubility parameters were performed.
Surface properties and porosity were also studied by SEM, TEM, and optical microscope.
The biodegradable sheet was prepared by solution casting from modified jute cellulose
derivatives, natural binder (bio-polymer), and oligo-chitosan solutions of various
concentrations. Various properties of the prepared cellulose-chitosan biopolymer (CCBP)
were performed using the CCBP. This CCBP sheet was cutting standard body shape
measurement with tailoring process then PPE is sealing with Ultrasonic Surgical Gown
Sealing Machine, Johnson Plastosonic, 20 KHz. After that, a quality check of this PPE
then ready for medical use.
5 Results and narrative discussion
Mechanical properties: tensile strengths (TSs) of biopolymers are shown in Figure 1. The
TS of this sheet containing 300 ppm oligo-chitosan is 45 MPa. It was found that TSs
increase with increase of oligo-chitosan concentration, up to 300 ppm then decreased.
Hydroxyl (OH) group of cellulose may be cross-linked of amino (NH) group of chitosan.
It is noted that TS of polypropylene and polyethylene are 22 MPa and 17 MPa (Shubhra
et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2021).
Figure 1 TS of bridgeable PPE (see online version for colours)
The porosity properties of Sanali Bag and PPE ware measure by EVO18 (UK) Election
Scanning Microscopy (SEM). The SEM Figure 3 show of Sonali Bag and PPE the which
was non-porous. So, this non-porous bridgeable PPE can give safety from SARS CoV-2.
The disposal properties of prepared PPE in water of different pH conditions are
performed and the results are shown in Table 2. It can completely dissolve in the water
within three days, in detergent (pH = 10) and alkaline solution (pH = 14) takes three
hours and three minutes respectively. The non-porous PPE can be degraded in earth and
soil within 15–100 days depending on crosslinking densities (Figure 2). PPE becomes
ashes after-burn and that could be used as fertiliser.

Corona pandemic and plastic pollution 459
Figure 2 Bridgeable test of PPE (see online version for colours)
Figure 3 SEM image of, (a) Sonali bag (b) PPE
(a) (b)
Table 2 Water degradation of chitosan added cellulose polymer
Samples Dissolving time In different pH
Water (pH = 7) Detergent (pH = 10) NaOH (pH = 14)
Without chitosan Five minutes Two minutes Two minutes
With chitosan (300 ppm) Three days Three hours Three minutes
6 Use of biodegradable PPE
This protective equipment is mainly made of non-biodegradable materials such as more
than one layer of non-woven polypropylene fibre (mostly used in a medical or surgical
mask and respirators) because of its highly hydrophobic nature. Medical gloves are made

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of latex, vinyl, nitrile rubber or neoprene, etc. Paper is used for make disposable gowns
but plastic is also used for surface coating. On the hand where synthetic polymer like
polyester is used for reusable gowns. Silver/metal compound, quaternary ammonium
compound, N-halamines may be also used for antimicrobial purposes to make the gowns
safe for reuse (Mandad, 2019). To solve the environmental issues of non-biodegradable
PPE, researchers developed a biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) based on non-woven
fabric and used as a raw material for respiratory protector (Majchrzycka, 2014;
Goetzendorf-Grabowska et al., 2015). However, the product was not cost-effective.
Nitrile gloves are biodegradable but it takes much longer to degrade. Our proposed jute
cellulose derivative-based biodegradable PPE is cost-effective, easy-to-manufacture and
decompose within 2–3 months if dumped as landfill waste, soluble instantly in soapy
water. The jute cellulose sheets can be made into protective aprons and trousers.
Oligo-chitosan was used to introduce functionality like antimicrobial, antiviral properties,
hydrophobicity, etc. Considering all these the objective of the research was to develop a
nano-level porous antimicrobial biodegradable sheet that can be further utilised to
prepare PPE like protective apron and trouser.
7 Other applications
7.1 Packaging materials for e-commerce
Before this pandemic, the continued thriving of the e-commerce business in rising
economies, raise interest in sustainable equipment and leading the enhancement of the
packaging industry of pharmaceutical by advanced technology. In each second,
2,760 parcel shipped worldwide (Jenke, 2018; SDC, 2019). So, prevention of
SARS-CoV-2 we can be sprayed oligo-chitosan on household material, food, and packing
surface which can prevent SARS CoV-2 speeding.
7.2 Wrapping materials for COVID-19 infected cadavers
WHO provide few guidance on handling the COVID-19 suspected or confirmed passed
away person’s body. An infected cadavers must be handled wearing PPE and must be
wrapped properly with non-porous materials before transfer (WHO, 2020a). These PPEs
and other wrapping or wearing materials could be prepared using cellulose and chitosan
and the preparation of biopolymers, which is easily degraded in soil (Mahfuz, 2020).
Very recent researcher found that modified chitosan can prevent COVID-19
spike protein to attack on host cell. Here this modified chitosan prepared
N-(2-hydroxypropyl)-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride (HTCC) and β-chitosan.
This HTCC can be a capable drug against COVID-19 which showed successfully prevent
the COVID-19 imitation. Researcher investigated on the obligatory of β-chitosan to the
COVID-19 and also studied on the virus influence irritation. The consequence exhibited a
remarkable healing effect of β-chitosan which can prevented the virus and abolishing the
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2). So, this CCBP-based PPE could be a useful
resource for the fight against COVID-19 (Alitongbieke et al., 2020a, 2020b; Botelho
et al., 2021; Mallakpour et al., 2021; Milewska et al., 2021).

Corona pandemic and plastic pollution 461
8 Conclusions
The disposal of the proposed PPE is easy. The PPE simply dissolves in soapy water
within three minutes. The wrapping materials for dead bodies effortlessly degrade in soil.
The main ingredients of this PPE are cellulose, extracted from jute, and chitosan
collected from the prawn shells, both of which are available in Bangladesh. The
extraction processes of cellulose and chitosan and the preparation of biopolymers are
environmentally friendly and cost-effective. The article advises that a widespread public
health campaign provide an alternative and eventually replace petroleum-based
non-degradable PPEs to eco-friendly PPEs. Otherwise, plastic waste from PPE will be
another epidemic near future.
Acknowledgements
All authors contributed to the research, writing, figure preparation and editing of this
article.
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