Insights into hazardous solid waste generation during COVID-19 pandemic and sustainable management approaches for developing countries

Abstract

The recent emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the drastic production and use of healthcare and personal protective equipment, leading to the release of a huge quantity of hazardous medical and solid wastes in the environment. Meanwhile, these solid wastes may contribute to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 viral particles when disposed of without proper treatment and care. Since SARS-CoV-2 could persist on different material surfaces including plastic, steel, paper, cardboard, cloth, and wood, proper management of these hazardous solid wastes has become a challenging task during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, an overview of the consumption of COVID-19-related healthcare and personal protective equipment along with the production of hazardous solid waste is presented. The efficient management of these wastes is necessary to prevent the entering of SARS-CoV-2 in various environmental compartments. Therefore, some preventive measures including the use of biodegradable materials for manufacturing personal protective equipment, minimizing the use of non-biodegradable materials, efficient pre-and-post planning, careful segregation, and disposal are, therefore, proposed for their sustainable management. The findings reported in this paper contribute to tackling the problems associated with hazardous solid waste management, particularly for low-and middle-income countries.

A safe haven of SARS-CoV-2 in the environment: Prevalence and potential transmission risks in the effluent, sludge, and biosolids

“…The reuse of effluent, sludge, or biosolids has been recognized as an effective strategy to address the scarcity of water shortage through crop irrigation and to supplement the depleted essential nutrients in the soil. However, recent evidence of the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on the effluents and sludge samples indicate potential associated environmental, ecological, and health risks on the use of these environmental materials, if they are not properly decontaminated or effectively treated from the novel virus before usage ( da Silva et al, 2020 , Adelodun et al, 2021a ). Indeed, the detection of a high load of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in river water due to direct sewage disposal in low sanitation regions and effluents of wastewater treatment plants is an indication of environmental and public health safety concerns in rural settings ( Guerrero-Latorre et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Although some studies reported the absence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from both wastewater effluent and produced sludge, it is recommended that environmental samples, including wastewater and sludge generated from the hospitals or designated centers for tendering to the COVID-19 patients, should be disposed of following the guidelines of hazardous waste and incineration ( Ji et al, 2020 , Adelodun et al, 2021a ).…”

Elucidating the role of environmental management of forests, air quality, solid waste and wastewater on the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2

“…Based on existing studies, improper waste management failing to adhere to standard operating procedures for solid waste rooted from the flaws in the existing waste management systems, which is commonly observed in low resource settings and could be a critical aspect in this regard (UNEP, 2020a). Inadequacy in legislations and policies, mechanization and automation, technical knowledge, infrastructure, staff, safety measures, awareness and monitoring were observed during the COVID-19 outbreak that could contribute to the anticipated risk of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity from solid waste sector ( Oruonye and Ahmed, 2020 ; Adelodun et al, 2021 ; Acharya et al, 2021 ; Falih et al, 2021 ; Zand and Heir, 2021 ). Scarcity of financial support and technical knowledge for waste-management are the major bottlenecks for developing countries ( Sharma et al, 2020 ; Acharya et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Scarcity of financial support and technical knowledge for waste-management are the major bottlenecks for developing countries ( Sharma et al, 2020 ; Acharya et al, 2021 ). Only just over half of the countries in the world have any form of legislation in place regarding healthcare waste management and only about a quarter have dedicated laws ( Oruonye and Ahmed, 2020 ; UNEP, 2020a; Adelodun et al, 2021 ; Chand et al, 2021 ; Falih et al, 2021 ). Waste management systems are designed for steady state flow with low variations generally, particularly in low-middle income countries waste sector is largely ignored and untreated as an essential service due to political and economic constraints ( Acharya et al, 2021 ; Faisal et al, 2021 ; Goswami et al, 2021 ).…”

Evaluation of urban solid-waste generation and safety consciousness of waste collectors amidst COVID-19 pandemic

“…Similarly, on the insights into hazardous solid-waste generation during COVID‑19 pandemic and sustainable management approaches for developing countries established that waste management in most developing countries still lack adequate management practices and required harmonious gap [ 27 ]. The study therefore recommends segregation of solid waste from source of generation.…”