The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought forth numerous changes to businesses and industries across the community in recent months. One that doesn’t get as much attention is how it has affected our collective ability to reduce waste.

In a recent interview with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck, Blair Pollock — a solid waste planner for Orange County’s Solid Waste Department — went into detail on how people are having to change their normal processes for waste reduction.

Although some businesses have seen their production of waste drop off due to being closed, the general public has seen an uptick in waste generated.

This increase is aided by more take-out orders from restaurants — and the Styrofoam boxes and plastic utensils that come with those — plus the need for personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves.

When it comes to PPE, Pollock said plenty of questions remain about the proper ways to dispose of those items.

“One guy asked me in an email the other day, ‘So, can I recycle my latex gloves with my plastic bags?” Pollock said. “That’s absolutely not. Don’t ever try to recycle any of your PPE. If you have washable masks, of course you can wash them and reuse them.”

Another huge change that has affected the way the community manages its waste comes from places like coffee shops and grocery stores.

Prior to the pandemic, people could bring their own reusable mugs or bags to reduce waste in that way. With those options no longer available, more and more grocery bags and paper coffee cups are finding their way into the system.

Although the changes aren’t necessarily something that Pollock would typically recommend, the importance of staying safe from the virus far outweighs anything that has to do with waste reduction.

The increase in residential waste is a necessary evil at this point, with members of the community left to simply do the best job they can in terms of recycling and finding other safe and creative ways to handle their waste.

“Where do you draw the line of how much is too much?” Pollock said. “I’d much rather err on the side of ‘too much,’ and sort of bite my tongue a little bit and say, ‘Well, at least I can recycle the plastic bag or the paper bag.’ I won’t worry right now about waste reduction so much, except to try to recycle as much of what I can.”

Photo via Orange County Solid Waste Department.

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