The COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the plastic pollution research – A comparative analysis of plastic pollution research before and during the pandemic

Abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated plastic pollution worldwide. So has the COVID-19 pandemic changed the research on plastic pollution? This work aims to explore the impact of the pandemic on plastic pollution research by comprehensively assessing the current status and prospects of plastic pollution research before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A collection of publications on the topic of plastic pollution in the Web of Science database concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the plastic pollution research: (i) The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the trend of plastic pollution publication output. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of publications on the topic of plastic pollution has shown a significant increase trend; (ii) The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed the global research landscape of research on the plastic pollution. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, more and more countries have begun to pay attention to plastic pollution. Before the pandemic, developed countries were global leaders in plastic pollution research. However, during the pandemic, developing countries began to have a significant share in the quality, quantity and international cooperation of publications; (iii) The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the major hotspots of plastic pollution research. The focus of research has changed significantly since the pandemic. Solving plastic pollution has become a major research content. During the epidemic, in-depth research on microplastics was conducted. The results of mining the publications on plastic pollution show that there is currently no effective solution to plastic pollution caused by the COVID-19. However, given the seriousness of controlling plastic pollution, it is very necessary to continue to carry out more research.