Challenges, Strategies, and Recommendations for the Huge Surge in Plastic and Medical Waste during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic with Circular Economy Approach

Teymourian, Targol; Teymoorian, Termeh; Kowsari, Elaheh; Ramakrishna, Seeram

doi:10.1007/s42824-021-00020-8

Cited by 62 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 103 publications

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“…The world was surprised at the end of 2019 with shocking news about the advent of a new virus from the family of Coronaviridae [ 1 ] . Although the beginning of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) firstly was reported by Chinese officials at the end days of 2019 and in more than 2000 papers, researchers mentioned the city of Wuhan, in their abstract as the starting point of the pandemic [ 2 ], but there are some pieces of concrete evidence about the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 in different locations long time before the Chinese announcement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of solar water disinfection in the era of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for contaminated water/wastewater treatment considering UV effect and temperature

Parsa

Momeni²,

Hemmat

et al. 2021

Journal of Water Process Engineering

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The COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the world from the beginning of 2020. The virus is highly contagious and spread rapidly and the number of infections increases exponentially. The high excessive number of patients and presence of the SARS-CoV-2 in human excreta and urine even after the infected person’s respiratory tests were negative, results in heavy load of viral in various water bodies. Numerous studies reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater samples. The risk of contaminating water bodies in the regions which suffer from the lack of proper sanitation system and wastewater treatment plants (mostly in developing countries) is higher. Since solar water disinfection (SODIS) is usually used by people in developing countries, there is a concern about using this method during the pandemic. Because the SARS-CoV-2 can be eliminated by high temperature (>56°C) and UVC wavelength (100-280 nm) while SODIS systems mainly work at lower temperature (<45°C) and use the available UVA (315-400 nm). Thus, during a situation like the ongoing pandemic using SODIS method for wastewater treatment (or providing drinking water) is not a reliable method. It should be reminded that the main aim of the present study is not just to give insights about the possibilities and risks of using SODIS during the ongoing pandemic but it has broader prospect for any future outbreak/pandemic that results in biological contamination of water bodies. Nevertheless, some experimental studies seem to be necessary by all researchers under conditions similar to developing countries.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of solar water disinfection in the era of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for contaminated water/wastewater treatment considering UV effect and temperature

Parsa

Momeni²,

Hemmat

et al. 2021

Journal of Water Process Engineering

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show abstract

“…All of the above problems, as well as the enormous Even though COVID-waste management is still in its early stages, lessons learned from previous diseases such as AIDS, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-1, as well as the creation of new and effective ways to deal with coronavirus, are being considered. As a result, it is critical to collect disparate data on coronavirus waste management when considering a circular economy with minimal waste (Teymourian et al 2021).…”

Section: Circular Economy: a Perspective For Waste Management During ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plastic accumulation during COVID-19: call for another pandemic; bioplastic a step towards this challenge?

Mittal

Aggarwal

2022

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Plastic pollution has become a serious transboundary challenge to nature and human health, with estimation of reports published — predicting a twofold increase in plastic waste by 2030. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the excessive use of single-use plastics (including face masks, gloves and personal protective equipment) would possibly exacerbate such forecasts. The transition towards eco-friendly alternatives like bio-based plastics and new emerging sustainable technologies would be vital to deal with future pandemics, even though the use or consumption of plastics has greatly enhanced our quality of life; it is however critical to move towards bioplastics. We cannot deny the fact that bioplastics have some challenges and shortcomings, but still, it is an ideal option for opt. The circular economy is the need of the hour for waste management. Along with all these practices, individual accountability, corporate intervention and government policy are also needed to prevent us from moving from one crisis to the next. Only through cumulative efforts, we will be able to cope up with this problem. This article collected scattered information and data about accumulation of plastic during COVID-19 worldwide. Additionally, this paper illustrates the substitution of petroleum-based plastics with bio-based plastics. Different aspects are discussed, ranging from advantages to challenges in the way of bioplastics.

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“…In addition, the increased production of biomedical waste from studies and lab tests that also contain a lot of plastic contributes to the problem. Deficiencies in the current waste management system to handle this momentum flows of PW could be produced its utter mismanagement, according to a world health organization (WHO) report, "If only 1% of the masks were improperly disposed of/and littered in nature, that is It could contaminate up to 10 million masks a month Environment" [26,37].…”

Section: Repercussions Of Covid-19 On Pw Accumulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Situation and Future Prospects for Plastic Waste in Maysan Governorate: Effects and Treatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Saleh

Al-Kahlidi

Abulridha³

et al. 2021

Egypt. J. Chem.

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Perils of plastic waste (PW) from polymers (ex: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), nylon, polystyrene (PS), etc.) , the mechanism of its spread in general and all of these types that are included in our daily life system as a product expelled continuously and/or frequently are 21 st century crisis as reported from United Nations in 2019, and especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. PW is a very serious issue that has negative and harmful effects on the ecosystem, beside; health and the economy through direct proportionality with the rate of increase in the state population, moreover, weak environmental awareness and Energy International Administration (EIA) towards this dangerous issue. The aim of the current survey study is to shed light on the importance of plastics in our daily life needs for food packaging, single-use personal protective equipment's, laboratory tests, etc... PW problems by knowing the chemical composition, components, uses, and harms, as well as knowing the possibility of benefiting from these wastes within the solid waste management system (MSW / Municipal). By providing some suggestions that helps reduce the harm of this waste either recycling or disposal. This study will also include approximate theoretical equations to calculate the percentage of PW in particular at Maysan governorate, Iraq; because we haven't any physical mechanism at the operational level that deals with waste sorting, especially PW; as these statistics generally depend on the official information published by the competent authority about the total amount of waste presented at the governorate level.

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Challenges, Strategies, and Recommendations for the Huge Surge in Plastic and Medical Waste during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic with Circular Economy Approach

Cited by 62 publications

References 103 publications

Effectiveness of solar water disinfection in the era of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for contaminated water/wastewater treatment considering UV effect and temperature

Effectiveness of solar water disinfection in the era of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic for contaminated water/wastewater treatment considering UV effect and temperature

Plastic accumulation during COVID-19: call for another pandemic; bioplastic a step towards this challenge?

Current Situation and Future Prospects for Plastic Waste in Maysan Governorate: Effects and Treatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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