Innovative Solutions for Reusing Packaging Waste Materials in Humanitarian Logistics

Abstract

The impact of packaging waste on the environment is becoming unsustainable, which has necessitated a turning point in material recycling and reuse. Such a concept is highly relevant in the humanitarian supply chain due to the huge mass of packaging items that are provided to countries hit by disasters, with these bad conditions making it almost impossible to adopt a rational management of waste streams. The goal of this study is to provide an approach and feasible solutions to reduce the environmental influence of waste produced by packaging and at the same time, to help people affected by disasters. Starting from the analysis of the available materials, several solutions of packaging reuse and recycling are developed and several prototypes are realized and tested in collaboration with the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots-Lab (UNHRD-Lab), which starts from the basic packaging materials used to supply first-aid to people, including cardboard, pallets, woods, and plastics. This paper addresses the above ideas and presents the design process, results and some quality tests. The experimental evidence encourages future on-field validation in refugee camps.

“This is our next problem”: Cleaning up from the COVID-19 response

“…building rubble, plant material, etc.). Specific focii of investigation have centered on strategies for managing disaster waste (see (Amato et al, 2020;de Magalhães et al, 2018;Domingo and Luo, 2017;Dugar et al, 2020;Gabrielli et al, 2018;Karunasena and Amaratunga, 2016;Karunasena et al, 2009) including possible options for reuse or recycling (see (Brown and Milke, 2016;Regattieri et al, 2018;Tabata et al, 2019), the modelling of potential impacts and systems reliability (Cheng et al, 2018;Trivedi et al, 2015), and the restoration of waste management systems postdisaster (see (Petersen, 2004;Ulusan and Ergun, 2018). However, what is less understood are the waste impacts of the human or societal responses to these disasters, such as disaster relief, socioeconomic restrictions, or shifts in consumption patterns.…”

A systematic review of recent developments in disaster waste management

“…As an eco-friendly waste treatment option, recycling is beneficial for recovery of economic value from recovery of materials, for recovery of energy, for job creation and for reduction of landfill space used (Brown and Milke., 2016) and can result in cost reductions (Fetter and Rakes, 2012). The papers by Regattieri et al (2016), Regattieri et al (2018) and Faleschini et al (2017) provided data on successful experiences of recycling materials from disaster-related solid wastes. Unfortunately, few authors documented that recycling is widely used in DWM practice.…”

“…medical waste and waste from evacuation shelters) (Asari et al, 2013;Raila and Anderson, 2017). To our knowledge, few scholars used qualitative method to discuss the innovative solutions for reusing packaging waste materials (Regattieri et al 2018), the data-based theoretical framework for managing healthcare wastes (Sahni et al 2018) and management of plastic bottle and filter water . The authors of following paper mainly focused on collection and disposal of disaster wastes but ignored the transportation of such wastes.…”

“…),Francesco et al (2018),Regattieri et al (2018),Boonmee et al (2018),Otsuka and Katsumi (2015),,Ozdamar et al (2014),Lesperance et al (2011), Zawawi et al (2018,Yoo et al (2017),Zawawi et al (2015),Maryono et al (2015),Caniato et al (2016),Regattieri et al (2016) andBaek et al (2016); 23EarthquakeSasao (2016),Asari. et al (2013),,Xiao et al (2012), García-Torres et al (2018), Berktas et al (2016), Çelik et al (2015), Sahin et al (2016), Domingo and Luo (2017), Karunasena and Amaratunga (2016; 2015), Shibata et al (2012), Kawamoto and Kim (2016, 2019), Faleschini et al (2017), Onan et al (2015), Wakabayashi et al (2017), Askarizadeh et al (2016), Saffarzadeh et al (2017), Hu and Sheu (2013), Raila and Anderson (2017), Poudel et al (2018), Cheng et al (2018a), Karunasena et al (2012), Pham et al (2014), Askarizadeh et al (2017), Sakai et al (2019), Pramudita and Taniguchi (2014), Memon (2015), Zhang et al (2016), Hooper (2019) and Koyama et al (2016); 33 Tsunami Asari et al (2013), Prasetya et al (2012), Tabata et al (2017), Wakabayashi et al (2017), Pereira-Portugal and Lee (2016) and Koyama et al (2016); 6 Hurricane/Typhoon Fetter and Rakes (2011; 2012), Habib.…”

“We Are Already Sick”: Infectious Waste Management and Inequality in the Time of Covid-19, a Reflection from Blantyre, Malawi

“…building rubble, plant material, etc.) (Amato et al 2020;de Magalhães et al 2018;Domingo & Luo 2017;Dugar et al 2020;Gabrielli et al 2018;Karunasena & Amaratunga 2016;Karunasena et al 2009) including possible options for reuse or recycling (Brown & Milke 2016;Regattieri et al 2018;Tabata et al 2019), the modelling of potential impacts and systems reliability (Cheng et al 2018;Trivedi et al 2015), and the restoration of waste management systems post-disaster (Petersen 2004;Ulusan & Ergun 2018). Moreover, the literature on emergency medical disaster relief pays, at best, tokenistic lip service to waste management issues.…”