Chapter 7 - Worldwide impact of COVID-19 on sustainable solid waste management—Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease has induced several socioeconomic, public health, and environmental issues worldwide. Solid waste management is one of the major environmental issues in many countries during COVID-19 due to changes in the quantity and quality of solid waste. Specifically, the amount of biomedical/healthcare waste generated skyrocketed during 2020–2022 because of the immense use of personal protective equipment (PPE), facemasks, hand gloves, medical diagnostic kits, etc. Additionally, lockdown and social isolation caused an upsurge in plastic waste generation due to increased usage of single-use plastic items for different purposes, including packaging consumer products and food items, PPE, etc. The pandemic has dramatically disrupted conventional solid waste management practices, including waste collection, transportation, segregation, treatment, recycling, reuse, and disposal. The sudden rise in the amount of solid waste generated posed a great challenge for municipalities and waste management companies in properly managing diverse types of waste. The primary concern was the potential spread of the infectious disease if there was improper disposal or inappropriate treatment of biomedical/healthcare wastes. Additionally, improper or poor waste management practices can lead to dire environmental consequences in the form of water, air, and soil pollution. This chapter reviews and assesses the impact of changes in human activities in the COVID-19 pandemic on the generation, disposal, and recycling of solid wastes in various countries. Moreover, novel strategies or policies adopted for solid waste management in several countries are presented. Implementation of potential preventive measures and/or new techniques for sustainable management of solid waste in future pandemic periods are proposed.