Attention, plastic hazard! - Integrating citizen science and science communication into single-use plastic pollution solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic

In recent years, scientists have focused on researching the causes of the climate crisis and developing methods of their prevention. Production and disposal of plastics (in particular single-use ones, e.g. cups, plates, bowls, cutlery) and the related emission of substances toxic, have been identified as having a significant impact on climate change and human health. The European Union Commission ordered the obligation to minimize or completely eliminate them by 2021 year. Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate problems and the threat of plastic relegated to the background. The perception of single-use products has also changed from the threatening one environment and human health necessary for virtually continuous use for purely reasons hygienic and health. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, potential consumers have been demanding single-use cookware, which increases their production and use compared to the period z against COVID-19. This situation now requires changes in the management of plastics once use. The aim of the research we are proposing is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perception of change climate and the role of single-use products by various professional groups related to the management of circular plastics and the public at large. The closed-loop plastics economy (understood here as a social phenomenon) we show in our project as a kind of opportunity to jointly create knowledge by scientists, civil science practitioners, and various stakeholder groups (including manufacturers, recyclers, distributors, municipal waste management employees, restaurateurs, representatives of non-governmental organizations and others) with the full involvement of the public. Using various methods and tools of social sciences (i.e. media narrative, media content analysis social networks, polls, interviews, OmniCalculator, games lab) in our project we try questions: 1) How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the perception of single-use plastics among stakeholders of the circular economy closed, the public and scientists? 2) How do these changes affect the co-creation process knowledge by different groups of experts? 3) Does the pandemic change the way it is disseminated? Knowledge ?, 4) Will the inclusion of academics and citizenship amateurs facilitate engagement? interested in trying to fight environmental pollution with plastics? The problem of the environmental crisis (including global warming and the threat of plastic) can not be solved by individual people or institutions. In this project, we propose that scientists have taken steps to combat the climate crisis, including not only experts, but also the general public.