Challenges and practices on waste management and disposal during COVID-19 pandemic
Dwi Hantokoa, Xiaodong Lib, Agamuthu Pariatamby c, KunioYoshikawa d, Mika Horttanainene, Mi Yana*
a Institute of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
b State Key Laboratory for Clean Energy Utilization, Institute for Thermal Power Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
cJeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, Sunway University, Selangor Darul Ehsan 47500, Malaysia
dZhejiang Eco Environmental Technology, Co. Ltd., Huzhou, China
eDepartment of Sustainability Science, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta 3453850, Finland
Corresponding author: Mi Yan (yanmi1985@zjut.edu.cn)
Abstract
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed a global emergency and also has raised issues with waste management. Insufficient and improper handling of COVID-19 related waste would have serious public health concerns and a great impact on the environment. The amount of single-use plastic waste seems to increase due to increasing demand from personal protections, food delivery services, and online shopping. By contrast, the amount of food waste appear to decrease. It might be caused by changes in food distribution pattern and socioeconomic conditions. COVID-19 waste should be strictly managed and treated according to the existing guidelines for infectious and healthcare waste management. The waste storage, transportation and final disposal must be handled by well-trained and protected worker. The emergency treatment and disposal (e.g., co-disposal in municipal solid waste incinerator, cement kilns, industrial furnaces, and deep burial) is needed to ramp up the lack of capacity due to the surge in waste generation. The urgent action and recommendation in the context of COVID-19 waste management proposed by the national and international agencies have been summarized here. The study also stressed the need for short term and mid-longer term responses to respond towards waste management during the pandemic. Furthermore, the practices discussed in this article may give an option on the alternative approaches and development of sustainable strategies for mitigating similar pandemics in the future.
Keywords: COVID-19, infectious wastes, waste management, disposal and treatment facilities, incinerator