What does this show? Over three years, we see a general increase in all three types of waste generated. This may be due to the increase in online shopping and food delivery during Covid-19 since the delivery of  food and groceries often includes more plastic packaging than shopping or buying food in person. What is especially worrying is that the pandemic may have changed the way people choose to shop and pay, meaning that these changes are unlikely to reverse even though social distancing measures have ended.

On the bright side, the rate of recycling for both plastics and food has increased slightly. So let’s keep that up!