Plastic’s versatility, low weight, and durability make it possible to do things in emergency contexts that were previously unthinkable. Compact packaging, for example, increases transport volume, meaning more relief supplies can arrive on the same flight or truck. Plastic tents for temporary shelters, field kitchens, and sanitary facilities save critical time during both assembly and disassembly. Polypropylene sandbags outperform jute as an inexpensive, durable alternative in flood response. Plastic is also an essential component of the helmets, protective eyewear, and clothing that keep relief workers safe.
It’s also cost-effective. Plastic makes humanitarian aid financially viable at the scale that global emergencies require. It’s light, protective, and cheap enough to procure in the quantities needed to reach millions of people.
Among the most urgent priorities after any natural disaster is access to safe water and sanitation. It’s common for wells to become contaminated, and water treatment infrastructure fails. That allows waterborne diseases like cholera to take hold, so mounting a quick response limits the number of people who get sick.
Delivery systems like plastic jerry cans, water storage containers, and hygiene kit packaging get people the safe water and hygiene supplies that prevent that disease spread. They can be transported in large quantities, survive rough conditions, and distributed rapidly.
In ALPLA’s exploration of a world without plastic, Alexandra Malm, Strategic Communications Advisor for Planetary Health at Médecins Sans Frontières, explains: “Médecins Sans Frontières requires a wide range of materials and equipment for emergency medical aid and humanitarian programs worldwide. Many of these items are made of plastic or contain plastic components, such as tents, tarpaulins, and disposable medical supplies…We are open to more environmentally friendly options. However, a large proportion of humanitarian materials are made of plastic, as this material is the easiest and quickest to obtain.”
Modern disaster response goes well beyond food distribution and shelter. A new generation of tools have expanded what’s possible when people are trapped or missing, and nearly all of them depend on plastic components.
Drones searching for survivors under avalanche debris or collapsed buildings operate on plastic casings and components. Thermal imaging cameras and night vision devices used for rescue operations in darkness or through rubble require plastics for their housing and function. GPS navigation, radio communication equipment, and the power generators that keep field hospitals running all incorporate plastic in ways that make them lighter, more durable, and more viable in the field conditions they are designed for. Chemical, biological, or nuclear incidents require specialized decontamination equipment that would be far more difficult to deploy without plastic.
These tools exist because plastic made them practical. If they were made of metal, glass, or wood, they’d have completely different weight and durability profiles.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance acknowledges that packaging is essential for getting life-saving assistance to people rapidly and in good condition, but it also creates vast amounts of waste that are difficult to manage in crisis contexts.
The response from major humanitarian organizations has not been to move away from plastic, but to make the plastic they use as sustainable as possible. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has revised nine core relief item specifications to reduce the use of virgin plastic and increase the proportion of recycled material by up to 100%. The items affected range from sleeping mats and jerrycans to kitchen sets, blankets, buckets, and family tents, which are some of the highest-volume products in UNHCR’s supply chain, procured in the millions annually.
UNHCR procures an average of 5 million blankets and 3 million sleeping mats each year, so even incremental shifts in material composition represent massive reductions in virgin plastic use at scale. By the end of 2030, UNHCR aims to reduce carbon emissions by 30%, implement cleaner waste management and circular solutions, and expand proximity-based, socially responsible sourcing.
Organizations are also addressing waste at the field level. Local recycling projects have been piloted by the World Food Programme and the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. Humanitarian organizations are working with local entrepreneurs in Uganda and Colombia to use recycled materials to develop shelter and water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies, creating both more sustainable inputs and dignified economic opportunities for people affected by crises. In Nepal, communities have been trained to make emergency life vests from empty water bottles in an example of what USAID calls "avoiding the paradox of wasting waste."
The Joint Initiative for Sustainable Humanitarian Assistance Packaging Waste Management pools resources and coordinates action across the sector on the shared challenge of packaging waste. The initiative is based on the idea that the magnitude of the challenge is too great for any single organization to handle alone, and a global problem requires a global effort.
Plastic will continue to be indispensable to emergency response. No other material currently meets the combined demands of weight, durability, cost, and scalability that it requires.
Recognizing both that necessity and its environmental implications, humanitarian organizations and their suppliers are increasingly working toward solutions that don’t force a tradeoff between the two. More recyclable materials, reduced packaging waste, and longer-lasting product designs are emerging across the sector, and they’re advancing the goal of getting more aid to more people, faster, while leaving a lighter footprint behind.