From outbreak of COVID-19 to launching of vaccination drive: invigorating single-use plastics, mitigation strategies, and way forward

Abstract

Graphical abstract The unforeseen outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has significantly stipulated the use of plastics to minimize the exposure and spread of the novel coronavirus. With the onset of the vaccination drive, the issue draws even more attention due to additional demand for vaccine packaging, transport, disposable syringes, and other allied devices scaling up to many million tonnes of plastic. Plastic materials in personal protective equipment (PPE), disposable pharmaceutical devices, and packaging for e-commerce facilities are perceived to be a lifesaver for the frontline healthcare personnel and the general public amidst recurring waves of the pandemic. However, the same material poses a threat as an evil environmental polluter when attributed to its indiscriminate and improper littering as well as mismanagement. The review not only highlights the environmental consequences due to the excessive use of disposable plastics amidst COVID-19 but also recommends mixed approaches to its management by adopting the combined and step-by-step methodology of adequate segregation, sterilization, sanitization activities, technological intervention, and process optimization measures. The overview finally concludes with some crucial way-forward measures and recommendations like the development of bioplastics and focusing on biodegradable/bio-compostable material alternatives to holistically deal with future pandemics.

Alternating magnetic field initiated catalytic deconstruction of medical waste to produce hydrogen-rich gases and graphite

“…X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to reveal the evolution of the electronic structure ( Figure 3 D). The high-resolution C1s spectra can be fitted by components corresponding to sp 2 carbon atoms (284.7 eV, marked as C1), sp 3 carbon atoms (285.1 eV, marked as C2), alpha carbon (285.7 eV, marked as C3), C–O (287.1 eV, marked as C4), and shake up (290.9 eV, marked as C5). 10 The initial PP was mainly composed of C1, C2, C3, and C4.…”

“…The unpredictable outbreak of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has driven increased medical supplies to minimize exposure and transmission of novel coronaviruses. 1 , 2 As patient numbers surge and vaccination campaigns begin, the demand for single-use medical (SUM) products (mask, disposable syringe, etc.) has increased to a million tons.…”

Plastic Waste in India: overview, impact, and measures to mitigate: Review

“…Since the coronavirus pandemic began, there has been an unusual surge of single-use plastics, such as gloves, protective medical suits, masks, hand sanitizer bottles, takeaway plastics, food, and polymer products packages, and medical test kits. The management of waste generated by singleuse plastics is a concerning side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on global healthcare systems and damaged national economies (Das et al 2021;Leal-Filho et al 2021;Patrício Silva et al 2021). Since the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, there has been a significant increase in the number of discarded single-use surgical and face masks, as well as latex gloves, found littering the streets, roads, medical institutions, and parking lots, dumpsites, beaches, gutters, and shopping carts.…”

Review of hospital plastic waste management strategies for Pakistan

“…According to a model developed by WHO, currently, there is a need for 89 million medical-grade masks, 76 million gloves, 30 million protective gowns, and 1.6 million safety glasses per month for healthcare workers throughout the world as shown in Fig. 2021 (Feinmann 2021 ; Rai and Roy 2021 ; Sangkham 2021 ; Sarkodie and Owusu 2021 ).…”