By Adrian Portugal and Peter Blaza
MANILA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Virgilio Estuesta has picked
through trash in the Philippines' biggest city for four decades,
and is noticing an unusually large amount of plastics during his
daily trawl of about 15 km (9.3 miles).
Tough curbs re-imposed to combat a surge in daily
coronavirus infections are squeezing income for the 60-year-old,
as many of the junkyards and businesses in Manila that buy his
recyclables have been closed since March.
Plastic items, such as bottles and containers, dominate the
contents of the rickety wooden cart Estuesta pushes through the
deserted streets, far more than metals and cardboard, yet the
money they bring in is not enough to get by.
"It's been really hard for us, it's been difficult looking
for recyclables that sell high," he said.
"Recently we've been seeing a lot more plastics, but the
problem is they don't really sell high."
Environmentalists say the Philippines is battling one of the
world's biggest problems stemming from single-use plastics, and
ranks among the biggest contributors to plastic pollution of the
oceans. It has no reliable data for its plastics consumption.
Greenpeace campaigner Marian Ledesma said consumers and
businesses are now using yet more single-use plastics, in a bid
to ward off virus infections.
"The pandemic has really increased plastic pollution," she
added. "Just because there's a lot more people using disposables
now, due to misconceptions and fears around transmitting the
virus."
Since March 16, Manila has experienced lockdowns of varying
levels of severity, in some of the world's longest and tightest
measures to curb the spread of the virus.
They are taking a toll on Estuesta, who hopes to start
earning soon.
"When you go out, the police will reprimand you," he said.
"I was stuck at home and had to rely on government aid, which
was not enough. I had to resort to borrowing money from people."
(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus:
open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Coronavirus: knowns and unknowns https://reut.rs/2UHIgvz
FACTBOX-Latest on global spread of coronavirus
ID:nL8N2AB5TN
FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus deaths exceed 700,000
ID:nL4N2AY3AS
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reorting by Adrian Portugal and Peter Blaza; Writing by Martin
Petty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)