Hydrothermal deconstruction of local anesthetics (bupivacaine and lignocaine) in pharmaceutical waste

Hydrothermal deconstruction of single-use personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…After 90 min, at 300 °C and 350 °C, the tCOD content was 4493 mg/L and 1160 mg/L, respectively. These results are congruent with previous studies conducted by Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 , who confirmed a decrease in tCOD content with an elevation in deconstruction temperatures during the hydrothermal deconstruction of different pharmaceutical wastes including local anaesthetics, antibiotics and hormones. Additionally, the presence of VFAs, primarily acetic acid, at the end of the deconstruction process adds to the residual COD content detectable within the reaction mixture ( Hii et al, 2014 , Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 ).…”

“…These results are congruent with previous studies conducted by Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 , who confirmed a decrease in tCOD content with an elevation in deconstruction temperatures during the hydrothermal deconstruction of different pharmaceutical wastes including local anaesthetics, antibiotics and hormones. Additionally, the presence of VFAs, primarily acetic acid, at the end of the deconstruction process adds to the residual COD content detectable within the reaction mixture ( Hii et al, 2014 , Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 ). The production of these VFAs could be deemed potential value-added by-products that might be reutilised for commercial and environmental gains ( Baroutian et al, 2016 , Baroutian et al, 2015 , Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 , Strong et al, 2011 ).…”

“…A further increase in deconstruction temperature to 350 °C for gloves, face shields and surgical masks, resulted in an increased solid reduction of 92.2%, 94.2% and 91.9%, respectively. These results align with recent results on hydrothermal deconstruction by Anthraper et al, 2018 , Javid et al, 2021a , Urrea et al, 2014 , Yousefifar et al, 2017 who reported a solid reduction (%) of up to 99.3% for municipal solid waste, 93% for pharmaceutical waste and activated sludge and 100% for cellulose, respectively at deconstruction temperatures varying between 160 °C and 350 °C. This increase in solid reduction with elevation in reaction temperature is due to the improved solubility, reaction kinetics and rate of gas–liquid mass transfer at severe reaction conditions ( Anthraper et al, 2018 , Javid et al, 2021a ).…”

“…Hydrothermal deconstruction or wet oxidation of organic waste is a waste management technology that targets organic solid waste reduction in an environmentally friendly manner ( Anthraper et al, 2018 ). Hydrothermal deconstruction focuses on the oxidation of organic waste material under high temperature (150–350 °C) and pressure (20–175 bar) reaction conditions ( Aggrey et al, 2012 , Anthraper et al, 2018 , Javid et al, 2021a , Javid et al, 2021b , Javid et al, 2022 , Mucha and Zarzycki, 2008 ), leading to the solubilisation and disintegration of waste. In contrast to other conventional waste treatment technologies, hydrothermal deconstruction not only is an environmentally benign option but also is easily scalable, time-efficient, cost-effective and does not generate toxic gaseous emissions such as nitrous oxides, persistent organic pollutants or dioxins, giving it a better technology readiness level (TRL) ( Anthraper et al, 2018 , Munir et al, 2018 ).…”

Quantification and composition of pharmaceutical waste in New Zealand

“…While incineration in New Zealand instead of offshore would remove the costs of transport and shipping, a law change would be required to enable this. A more suitable improvement of current practices would be alternative technologies such as hydrothermal deconstruction, which has shown promise in degrading several pharmaceuticals to date, including local anaesthetics, antibiotics, and hormones [ 35 – 37 ]. If such a system could treat all pharmaceutical waste together in a single stream, that would remove challenges and inefficiencies around the separation of cytotoxic waste.…”