Abstract
Many countries already have problems with waste management, but when the COVID-19 outbreak happens, the existing problems are worsened. This review aims to examine how mismanagement of medical and plastic waste affects the environment and people, especially those who work in healthcare facilities. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear that the majority of issues stemmed from mismanagement of plastic waste. For example, plastic waste can be seen in various places, such as the deepest oceanic floor, The Mariana trench, which is proved by microplastics found in amphipods’ digestive tract living down there. Apart from environmental effects, the economy is also affected by plastic pollution as the tourism business has decreased in Korea and USA due to the increasing amount of plastic waste. While normal plastic waste can largely affect society, medical wastes seem to pose more severe consequences as medical wastes might be contaminated, pathologic, and radioactive. However, during the pandemic, the usage of both medical and plastic waste has increased in general. Mismanaged waste also carries COVID-19 like other pathogens, and the virus can survive on it for a long period of time, making any mismanaged waste a risk factor. Incinerated ashes from medical waste used for fighting the virus can also cause pollution as they contain heavy metals. In conclusion, mismanaged plastic waste mostly affects the environment, while mismanaged medical waste might carry harmful pathogens, including the COVID-19, putting people at risk. More actions need to be done to improve the effectiveness of waste management procedures.
Highlights
The emergence of a novel coronavirus causes serious negative impacts, such as the reduced amount of food demand and food security, high level of stress and psychiatric symptoms among the population worldwide (Siche, 2020; Xiong et al, 2020)
This review examines the potential causes of plastic waste surged during the pandemic and aims to compare the impacts of pre and during COVID-19 mismanagement of medical waste and plastic waste in this period
In normal circumstances, mismanagement of plastic waste affects the environment by polluting the ocean, land field, and air
Summary
The emergence of a novel coronavirus causes serious negative impacts, such as the reduced amount of food demand and food security, high level of stress and psychiatric symptoms among the population worldwide (Siche, 2020; Xiong et al, 2020). The first recorded case of this virus was reported in late December 2019, in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, in Wuhan, Hubei, China (Wu et al, 2020). Global efforts have been made to develop safe and effective vaccines so as to counter the increase of COVID-19 cases (Ong et al, 2020). When Polack et al (2020) proposed promising mRNA COVID-19 vaccines with high efficacy and safety, the situation seems to be better until the outbreak of the delta variant. Because of its relatively high transmissibility compared to other variants, the delta variant poses a significant and steady rise of new COVID-19 cases in the UK and India, making them unable to lift the COVID-19 restrictions (Burki, 2021; Mahase, 2021)
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