1537Fighting against the pandemic or threatening the environment? Unforeseen challenges during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background In the current scenario of COVID-19 outbreak whereby the virus spreads through fomites and aerosols, there has been a huge increase in the use of soaps, sanitizers and personal protective equipment’s (PPEs) which in turn is causing huge amount of liquid and solid waste generation. We briefly describe here as how this pandemic is causing an impact on global environment. We also provide a rationale of using a modelled treatment framework using a reverse logistic network as temporary waste management measure during this pandemic. Methods We systematically searched Medline, Cochrane library, Google Scholar, Embase for articles published in English language describing the increased Biomedical waste generation in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Results As of July 2020, the volume of the COVID biomedical waste generated across India was 101 metric tons per day where Maharashtra was the largest producer of biomedical waste with about 17.5 metric tons per day. Conclusions Rationale use of personal protective equipment according to the exposure level of the biological hazard should be ensured by health workers and communities. Awareness regarding the proper disposal of the personal protective equipment and other biomedical wastes generated should be created. Also, proper segregation of biomedical wastes from the point of generation to the point of disposal and treatment should be done. Key messages Inappropriate usage and disposal of PPEs in the current COVID-19 pandemic is a huge hazard to the environment.