Abstract
One of the social measures applied during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)—face masks and gloves. As a result, this waste category has expanded enormously. This study investigates waste management issues from multiple perspectives, including local governments, waste collection companies, and individual citizens in Poland using a telephone survey for institutions and an online questionnaire for individuals. The results of this study show that approximately 80% of local governments in the Silesian region have applied special measures for handling and collection of waste PPE. Only 13% of waste collection companies have applied special collection schedules for the waste generated at quarantine collection points due to the high costs of changing collection schedules, providing additional vehicles, and paying for more labor. The information campaigns focusing on new methods of PPE waste collection have been difficult to introduce on a large scale, and citizens need better information regarding how to handle and dispose of waste PPE. Results indicated the most helpful method in supporting waste PPE collection would be automatic PPE dispensers with waste PPE collection options and waste bags of a designated color. The respondents identified waste PPE pollution of the environment as an issue and the necessity for proper recovery of this waste stream.
Highlights
In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, had reached pandemic status [1]
The results from the first part of the survey, which was directed to local government environmental departments and waste collection companies, indicated a significant difference in approach between these two groups of entities
protective equipment (PPE) is distinguished as a separate category with the potential hazard of spreading a virus, the requirements for the collection of this kind of product were not intended to introduce very strict measures for waste handling
Summary
In March 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, had reached pandemic status [1]. There has been increased uncertainty and concern for public health around the world as governments have introduced special measures to prevent the spread of the disease. Regardless of the cause of the appearance of the virus and other aspects of its epidemiology, one of the events following the declaration of the pandemic state was the introduction of potentially effective methods to limit the spread of the virus by individuals in a population [3]. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE), face-covering masks and gloves in particular [4], has been required in public. New products have appeared for common and everyday use, which were previously used
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