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Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are currently the cornerstone of achieving sustainability globally. Nevertheless, the question is applicability of EMS in the medical sector. Hence, the review focused on applicability of EMS in medical waste management Zimbabwe. EMS involves overall processes that facilitate reduction of dire impacts of company's activities while increasing performance. EMS framework consists of environmental policy, planning, implementation, checking, review and improvement stages. To examine applicability of EMS in management of medical sector waste, published secondary sources with information related to the topic were utilised. Analysis of strengths and opportunities of EMS was used as a base to examine its applicability in medical waste management. Zimbabwean medical sector consist of hospitals and primary healthcare facilities. Medical waste includes pathological, pharmaceutical, cytotoxic, radioactive, chemical, sharp, infectious and general waste. However, twenty-first century witnessed expansion of medical institutions to accommodate COVID-19 patients, resulting in generation of construction and demotion waste. Medical institutions in Zimbabwe are accountable for solid waste management at generation source although municipalities are responsible for conveying solid waste to landfills. Solid waste from medical sector is disposed through traditional strategies namely landfilling, incineration, open pits and open burning, resulting in water, air, and soil contamination. However, EMS can reduce quantity of solid waste disposed through waste reuse, recycle and recovery. Moreover, achievement of integrated approach, effective legislation, policies and inclusive participation in medical waste management is adopted through use of EMS. Therefore, EMS were utilised to develop an integrated sustainable medical waste management model to achieve sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The problem of repeated epidemic fluctuations in the normalized prevention and control stage is revealed by data from January 20, 2020, to January 30, 2023. In order to improve the collaborative response of the public and government departments to public health emergencies and avoid repeated fluctuations of the epidemic, a tripartite evolutionary game model of the public, local government, and central government departments is constructed, focusing on the evolutionary paths and evolutionary stabilization strategies of the three subjects, and the influence of each element on the evolutionary results is simulated by numerical simulation in Matlab, and based on the inadequacy of the static reward and punishment mechanism, a dynamic Based on the shortcomings of static reward and punishment mechanism, dynamic reward and punishment mechanism is introduced to control the stability of the evolving system. The study shows that (1) with the increase of the initial willingness of the three parties, the rate of the public choosing the discretionary flow strategy slows down, and the collaborative prevention and control process can be accelerated. (2) The reward and punishment mechanism of central government departments has a positive incentive effect on the local government's strict prevention and control and the public's conscious isolation. Appropriately increasing rewards, formulating reasonable subsidy strategies, and increasing penalties for violations are conducive to the overall optimization of the system, and the punishment mechanism is most sensitive to the regulation of the public's discretionary mobility behavior. (3) Government departments' prevention and control costs can influence their enthusiasm for strict prevention and control and real-time supervision. Reducing the human resources cost, time cost, and financial cost of prevention and control is conducive to government departments performing their duties more responsibly. (4) The static punishment mechanism fails to make timely adjustments according to the strategy choice of each actor. It cannot control the stability of the evolving system. In contrast, the dynamic punishment mechanism considers the punishment parameters to link the casual isolation rate with the lenient prevention and control rate, which can effectively control the system's fluctuating instability and is the system's stability control strategy. Finally, combining theoretical and simulation analysis, management suggestions are made for controlling repeated fluctuations of the epidemic in practice, and the research limitations of this paper are explained., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Sustainability issues such as food insecurity, climate change, land degradation, economic development and food waste are the actual most important challenges at the global level. Among them, the food waste (FW) challenge has a great magnitude, emphasizing the importance of examining this issue. Specifically, there is a need to focus on the household level. Thus, this study aims to investigate and identify the main factors influencing FW household behaviors on which policymakers and stakeholders could outline specific and sustainable strategies. Starting from a large number of published studies on this subject with a similar aim but focusing on specific Countries or contexts, the goal of our study is achieved through the implementation of a systematic literature review followed by a bibliometric review using the VOSviewer software. The selected query generated a total of 235 matching papers from which only 111 papers were collected for the bibliometric review because of the inclusion criteria. The analysis showed the existence of four major research strands: the largest one analyses the antecedents of behavior during food management, including the implementation of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Other detected topics are the economic impact of FW, the effects generated by the Covid-19 pandemic on consumer behaviors, and finally, the environmental and social effects of FW. The objective of this study is to investigate and identify the main factors influencing FW household behaviors. The obtained output represents useful information for policymakers and stakeholders to outline specific and sustainable strategies to reduce FW., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Pilone et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on almost all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), leaving no country unaffected. It has caused a shift in political agendas, but also in lines of research. At the same time, the world is trying to make the transition to a more sustainable economic model. The research objectives of this paper are to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the fulfilment of the SDGs with regard to the research of the scientific community, and to analyze the presence of the Circular Economy (CE) in the literature. To this end, this research applies bibliometric analysis and a systematic review of the literature, using VOSviewer for data visualization. Five clusters were detected and grouped according to the three dimensions of sustainability. The extent of the effects of the health, economic and social crisis resulting from the pandemic, in addition to the climate crisis, is still uncertain, but it seems clear that the main issues are inefficient waste management, supply chain issues, adaptation to online education and energy concerns. The CE has been part of the solution to this crisis, and it is seen as an ideal model to be promoted based on the opportunities detected.

The sorting of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste is a critical step to linking the recycling system and to the macro prediction, which helps to promote the development of the circular economy. Moreover, the effective classification and automated separation process will also help to stop the spreading of pathogenic organisms, such as virus and bacteria, by minimizing human intervention in the sorting process, while also helping to prevent further contamination by COVID-19 virus. This study aims to develop an efficient method to sort C&D waste through deep learning combined with knowledge transfer approach. In this paper, CVGGNet models, that is four VGG structures (VGGNet-11, VGGNet-13, VGGNet-16, and VGGNet-19), based on knowledge transfer combined with the technology of data augmentation and cyclical learning rate, are proposed to classify ten types of C&D waste images. Results show that 2.5 × 10 -4 , 1.8 × 10 -4 , 0.8 × 10 -4 , and 1.0 × 10 -4 are the optimum learning rate for CVGGNet-11, CVGGNet-13, CVGGNet-16, and CVGGNet-19, respectively. Knowledge transfer helped shorten the training time from 1039.45 s to 991.05 s, and while it improved the performance of the CVGGNet-11 model in training, validation, and test datasets. The average training time increases as the number of the layers in the CVGGNet architecture rises: CVGGNet-11 (991.05 s) ˂ CVGGNet-13 (1025.76 s) ˂ CVGGNet-16 (1090.48 s) ˂ CVGGNet-19 (1337.81 s). Compared to other CVGGNet models, CVGGNet-16 showed an excellent performance in various C&D waste types, in terms of accuracy (76.6%), weighted average precision (76.8%), weighted average recall (76.6%), weighted average F1-score (76.6%) and micro average ROC (87.0%). In addition, the t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) approach can reduce the dataset to a lower dimension and distinctly separate each type of C&D waste. This study demonstrates the good performance of CVGGNet models that can be used to automatically sort most of the C&D waste, paving the way for better C&D waste management., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The development of COVID-19 in China has gradually become normalized; thus, the prevention and control of the pandemic has encountered new problems: the amount of infectious medical waste (IMW) has increased sharply; the location of outbreaks are highly unpredictable; and the pandemic occurs everywhere. Thus, it is vital to design an effective IMW reverse logistics network to cope with these problems. This paper firstly introduces mobile processing centers (MPCs) into an IMW reverse logistics network for resource-saving, quick response, and the sufficient capacity of processing centers. Then, a multi-participant-based (public central hospitals, disposal institutions, the logistics providers, and the government) collaborative location and a routing optimization model for IMW reverse logistics are built from an economic, environmental perspective. An augmented ε-constraint method is developed to solve this proposed model. Through a case study in Chongqing, it is found that for uncertain outbreak situations, fixed processing centers (FPCs) and MPCs can form better disposal strategies. MPC can expand the processing capacity flexibly in response to the sudden increase in IMW. The results demonstrate good performance in reduction in cost and infection risk, which could greatly support the decision making of IMW management for the government in the pandemic prevention and control.

Existing research recognizes the COVID-19 impact on waste generation. However, the preliminary studies were made at an early pandemic stage, focused on the household waste fraction, and employed descriptive statistics that lacked statistical support. This study tries to fill this gap by providing a reliable statistical analysis setting inferential confidence in the waste generation differences found in Castellón. Repeated measures ANOVA were carried out for all the waste fractions collected and recorded in the city landfill database from 2017 to 2020. Additionally, Bonferroni’s multiple comparison test (p < 0.05) was used to assure confidence level correction and identify which pairs of years’ differences appeared. The longitudinal study identified trends for each waste fraction before the pandemic and showed how they changed with the advent of the crisis. Compared to 2019, waste collection in 2020 significantly grew for glass and packaging; remained unchanged for beaches, paper and cardboard, and dropped substantially for households, streets, markets, bulky waste, hospitals, and recycling centres. Total waste showed no differences between 2017 and 2019 but dropped significantly in 2020. These findings may help us better understand the long-term implications of COVID-19 and improve municipal solid waste management in a similar crisis.

At present, strategies for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic have made significant and strategic strides; however, and the large quantities of healthcare treatment waste have become another important "battlefield". For example, in Wuhan, the production rate of healthcare waste in hospitals, communities, temporary storage, and other units was much faster than the disposal rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving the efficiency of healthcare waste transfer and treatment has become an important task for government health and environmental protection departments at all levels. Based on the situation of healthcare waste disposal in Wuhan during the critical period of the pandemic, this paper analyzes and studies green governance principles and summarizes the problems that exist in the current healthcare waste management system. Through the establishment of temporary storage facilities along transit routes, digital simulation and bionic experiments were carried out in the Hongshan District of Wuhan to improve the efficiency of healthcare waste transfer. Furthermore, this study discusses the coordination and cooperation of government, hospitals, communities, and other departments in the healthcare waste disposal process and provides guiding suggestions for healthcare waste disposal nationwide in order to deal with potential risks and provide effective references in all regions.

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a global emergency and also has raised issues with waste management practices. This study emphasized the challenges of increased waste disposal during the COVID-19 crisis and its response practices. Data obtained from the scientific research papers, publications from the governments and multilateral organizations, and media reports were used to quantify the effect of the pandemic towards waste generation. A huge increase in the amount of used personal protective equipments (facemasks, gloves, and other protective stuffs) and wide distribution of infectious wastes from hospitals, health care facilities, and quarantined households was found. The amount of food and plastic waste also increased during the pandemic. These factors caused waste treatment facilities to be overwhelmed, forcing emergency treatment and disposals (e.g., co-disposal in a municipal solid waste incinerator, cement kilns, industrial furnaces, and deep burial) to ramp up processing capacity. This paper discussed the ways the operation of those facilities must be improved to cope with the challenge of handling medical waste, as well as working around the restrictions imposed due to COVID-19. The study also highlights the need for short, mid, and longer-term responses towards waste management during the pandemic. Furthermore, the practices discussed in this paper may provide an option for alternative approaches and development of sustainable strategies for mitigating similar pandemics in the future., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The emerging and underdeveloped countries in Africa face numerous difficulties managing infectious waste during the SARS-CoV-2 disease, known as the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to help decision-makers in African countries to select the best available waste management strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research undertakes seamless assessment and prioritization of infectious solid waste (SW) and wastewater (WW) treatment technologies based on a criteria system involving four dimensions, i.e., environment-safety, technology, economics, and sociopolitics. A combined approach that integrates the results of life-cycle assessments and life-cycle costs (LCA-LCC), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and VIKOR method in an interval-valued fuzzy (IVF) environment is proposed. The results reveal that combined incineration and chemical disinfection approach, and combined chlorination and ultraviolet irradiation are the most sustainable technologies for managing infectious SW and WW treatment in the present context. The proposed approach, alongside the findings of the study, constitutes a reference to devise urgent planning for contagious waste management in African countries as well as developing countries worldwide.

The COVID-19 has placed pandemic modeling at the forefront of the whole world's public policymaking. Nonetheless, forecasting and modeling the COVID-19 medical waste with a detoxification center of the COVID-19 medical wastes remains a challenge. This work presents a Fuzzy Inference System to forecast the COVID-19 medical wastes. Then, people are divided into five categories are divided according to the symptoms of the disease into healthy people, suspicious, suspected of mild COVID-19, and suspicious of intense COVID-19. In this regard, a new fuzzy sustainable model for COVID-19 medical waste supply chain network for location and allocation decisions considering waste management is developed for the first time. The main purpose of this paper is to minimize supply chain costs, the environmental impact of medical waste, and to establish detoxification centers and control the social responsibility centers in the COVID-19 outbreak. To show the performance of the suggested model, sensitivity analysis is performed on important parameters. A real case study in Iran/Tehran is suggested to validate the proposed model. Classifying people into different groups, considering sustainability in COVID 19 medical waste supply chain network and examining new artificial intelligence methods based on TS and GOA algorithms are among the contributions of this paper. Results show that the decision-makers should use an FIS to forecast COVID-19 medical waste and employ a detoxification center of the COVID-19 medical wastes to reduce outbreaks of this pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic was first reported on 31 December 2019, in Wuhan. Since then, the rapid spread of the virus has directly impacted various aspects of people's lives, including culture, society, education, and the economy. The environment has also been affected, as the disposal of thousands of tons of single-use personal protective equipment has resulted in a significant increase in waste. The challenge was to create environmentally friendly materials for personal protective equipment. One of the alternatives to polypropylene materials is a biodegradable nonwoven produced using spun-bonded technology. The article discusses various physical and mechanical parameters, the biodegradation process, and the distribution of molar masses during the weeks of nonwoven biodegradation. Additionally, the paper presents the results of in vitro cytotoxicity tests conducted on the material. Biodegradable materials are a viable solution to the challenges posed by a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19's developing trend has put the waste management systems of governments all over the world in jeopardy. The increasing rise of infectious medical waste has now become a serious problem. This paper presents a multi-period multi-objective model for designing a medical waste management system during the COVID-19 pandemic. The model aims to reduce total costs of infectious medical waste management while also reducing the environmental impact of treatment centers, disposal centers, and transportation. It also aims to maximize the suitability of treatment technology based on social considerations and reduce the risk associated with processing and transporting COVID-19 waste. Different strategic and operational decisions are taken into account that include the selection of treatment technologies, the location of treatment and disposal centers, the flow of generated medical waste between facilities, and the number of vehicles required for the medical waste transport. The model tackles the uncertainty associated with model parameters, and it uses a credibility-based possibilistic programming method to deal with uncertainties. The suggested model is solved using an interactive fuzzy programming method and the importance of social indicators for selecting treatment technology is determined using the fuzzy best–worst approach. The effectiveness of the model is demonstrated by a practical case study in Shiraz, Iran. The numerical results can help system designers to achieve the most suitable trade-off between the sustainability goals and the safety viewpoint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new method for determining the effect of healthy personal protective material (HPPM) stripes, such as surgical masks, protective suits, and overhead and foot covers, on the durability and physicomechanical characteristics of concrete for use in architectural forms. Because of the current global epidemic caused by coronavirus (COVID-19), the use of HPPM, such as surgical masks, protective suits, and overhead and foot covers, has increased considerably. COVID-19's second and third waves are currently affecting various countries, necessitating the use of facemasks (FM). Consequently, millions of single FM have been discharged into the wild, washing up on beaches, floating beneath the seas, and ending up in hazardous locations. The effect of stripe fibers on the physicomechanical characteristics of concrete, such as the workability, Uniaxial Compressive Strength UCS, flexural strength, impact strength, spalling resistance, abrasion resistance, sorptivity, Water absorption Sw, porosity (ηe), water penetration, permeability, and economic and eco-friendly aspects, need to be determined. With a focus on HPPM, especially single-use facemasks, this study investigated an innovative way to incorporate pandemic waste into concrete structures. Scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction patterns were employed to analyze the microstructures and interfacial transition zones and to identify the elemental composition. The HPPM had a pore-blocking effect, which reduced the permeability and capillary porosity. Additionally, the best concentrations of HPPM, particularly of masks, were applied by volume at 0, 1, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5%. The use of mixed fibers from different HPPMs increased the strength and overall performance of concrete samples. The tendency of growing strength began to disappear at approximately 2%. The results of this investigation showed that the stripe content had no effect on the compressive strength. However, the stripe is critical for determining the flexural strength of concrete. The UCS increased steadily between 1 and 1.5% before falling marginally at 2.5%, which indicates that incorporating HPPM into concrete had a significant impact on the UCS of the mixture. The addition of HPPM to the mixtures considerably modified the failure mode of concrete from brittle to ductile. Water absorption in hardened concrete is reduced when HPPM stripes and fibers were added separately in low-volume fractions to the concrete mixture. The concrete containing 2% HPPM fibers had the lowest water absorption and porosity percentage. The HPPM fibers were found to act as bridges across cracks, enhancing the transfer capability of the matrices. From a technological and environmental standpoint, this study found that using HPPM fibers in the production of concrete is viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the pandemic of COVID-19, various unexpected environmental impacts in many countries have been rising. Millions of gloves and masks are used and thrown away daily around the globe. Incorrect disposal of COVID-19 waste without disinfection preparation could expose people and healthcare personnel to the possibility of spreading the infection of coronaviruses. This article finds an appropriate way to disinfect the waste of coronavirus-infected items by involving various physical factors, chemical and biological or physiological factors. Policymakers must immediately adopt disinfection technology to achieve green recovery of covid-19 waste that encourages development and sustains climate change. Regarding previously published papers and research results, this article intends to investigate the plastic pollution research status before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and outline safely disinfecting COVID-19 plastic waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many social and economic problems in Hispanic America, a region with fragile health and economic systems and many inequalities. The pandemic has negatively influenced various aspects of life and led to changes in various habits and behaviours, including consumption. However, the extent to which the pandemic has influenced households, and waste production, in particular, is not well known. In this context, this paper reports on a study aimed at identifying changes in waste production across households under the special conditions created by the pandemic in Hispanic America. The majority of the respondents stated that their level of satisfaction with waste management policies in their countries did not change much during the pandemic. Only a few stated that they were more satisfied than before. Overall, the results suggest that, like previous crises, the COVID-19 outbreak may generate changes regarding household consumption and waste management in Hispanic America. At the same time, these findings stress the need to improve waste management practices. Some measures that may be adopted to allow Hispanic American countries to better cope with increases in waste production in times of pandemics are listed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to show the positive and negative indirect effects of COVID-19 on municipal solid waste management systems, especially for plastic waste and food waste. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire waste management sector. As the pandemic spread and lockdowns were enforced in many countries, government and municipal waste operators had to quickly adapt their waste management programs and procedures to the situation. In the pandemic condition, waste generation has switched from industry and commercial to domestic areas. Reduced recycling activities have made municipal waste collection and disposal more difficult. This paper focuses on all the challenges and it’s possible resolutions for managing food and plastic waste during the pandemic of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anticipated increase in the influx of plastic waste into aquatic environments has propelled the identification and elimination of plastic waste into the global agenda. The plastics sector generates a significant volume of materials, which, due to their extended durability, accumulate rapidly in natural ecosystems. Consequently, this indiscriminate utilization, along with the deposition of plastic waste (PW) in landfills and inadequate recycling practices, leads to diverse economic, social, and environmental consequences. Microplastics (MPs) are a type of PW that has been fragmented into particles measuring less than 5 mm. These particles have been found in several environments, including the air, soil, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems, where they accumulate in large quantities. In order to gain insight into the ecological risks and resource implications associated with a plastic product, it is strongly advised to conduct life cycle and sustainability analyses. Therefore, this paper examines various strategies aimed at achieving effective management of MP waste in order to develop a conceptual framework for MPs in circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA). The findings of this study provides a new avenue for future research and contribution to manage MP waste as well as reduce their environmentally hazardous impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Oral health professionals' knowledge of sustainability is essential for promoting environmental protection in dental healthcare. This pilot study involved an online survey addressed to 70 dental private practitioners from Bucharest, Romania, to evaluate their awareness of the concept of sustainability in dentistry. The performed statistical analysis revealed that 41.4% of the participants were well aware of sustainability in dentistry, with older participants demonstrating significantly higher levels of such awareness (p = 0.001). Sustainability awareness among participants correlates positively with their knowledge of the negative environmental impacts of dental activity (p < 0.001) and with the concern for sustainable dentistry implementation in their workplace (p = 0.037). Improper biohazardous waste disposal was identified as the primary cause of negative environmental impact of dental practices by 87.1% of participants. Installing high energy-efficient dental equipment was selected as the most important action to implement sustainability in participants' dental practices (64.3%). Overall, 51.4% of the participants reported that the COVID-19 pandemic had a medium impact on their dental activity in terms of sustainability. Our study found that participants have a moderate level of awareness regarding sustainability in dentistry, highlighting the need for education on sustainability for oral health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The anthropause during the recent COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to examine the impact of human activity on seabirds. Lockdowns in Peru prevented people from visiting coastal areas, thereby reducing garbage disposal on beaches and the movement of microplastics into the ocean. This cessation of activities likely led to a temporary decrease in plastic pollution in coastal regions. We aimed to investigate this phenomenon in inshore-feeding neotropic cormorants (Nannopterum brasilianus) along the Circuito de Playas Costa Verde (CPCV), situated on the coastal strip of Lima, Peru (∼ 11 million people). Methods: We collected and analyzed fresh pellets along the CPCV before (over 11 months) and during the pandemic lockdowns (over 8 months). Results: Our findings revealed a significant reduction in the occurrence of plastic in pellets during the pandemic period (% Oc = 2.47, n = 647 pellets) compared to pre-pandemic conditions (% Oc = 7.13, n = 800 pellets). The most common plastic debris item found in the pellets was threadlike microplastic. Additionally, our study highlights the direct correlation between human presence on beaches and the quantity of microplastics (mainly threadlike) found in cormorant pellets. We suggest that the reintroduction of these materials into the sea, previously accumulated on the coast, is likely facilitated by the movement and activity of beachgoers toward the ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environment is the surroundings of us. It includes physical, biological and man-made elements which are interlinked individually as well as collectively. Man made elements are various cultural elements like - economic, social, political etc. For our survival each and every environmental factors have important role. Tribes are the marginalized and vulnerable section of the society. They are technologically, economically and culturally backward due to their isolated nature. This backwardness hampers their livelihood conditions, health conditions and sustainability. In this paper the impacts of various socio-economic factors of environment like - education, income etc. as well as domestic environmental factors like - sanitation, garbage disposal etc. on tribal health have been analyzed in some tribal villages of Ausgram - II block in East Burdwan district, West Bengal. Problems of various diseases have been pointed out and some remedial measures have been also suggested to achieve sustainable living environment. This work is mainly based in primary data. Simple statistical and cartographic techniques have been applied to prepare it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collecting urban solid waste (USW) is a critical and essential phase for proper waste management and valorization. To date, many data are available for large cities, but few studies have focused on low-density areas, such as mountainous regions. Considering this lack in the literature, this study aimed to compare two separate waste collection systems in two mountainous valleys in terms of effectiveness and GHG emissions. In the first scenario, a mixed collection system (door-to-door + centers) was used, while in the other, waste was separately collected by a full door-to-door system. The results suggested that the full door-to-door system achieved better performance than the mixed collection system (door-to-door + centers), with a fraction of separate waste collection compared to the unit equals (0.84 ± 0.01 vs. 0.79 ± 0.02). Moreover, the full door-to-door system represented the best option for collecting separate waste in mountainous areas in terms of GHG emissions, with 11.21 kgCO2, eq twaste−1 emitted vs. 15.62 kgCO2, eq twaste−1 in the case of the mixed system. Despite utilities emitting a higher amount of GHGs in the door-to-door scenario (4.66 kgCO2, eq inh−1 y−1), they were fully compensated for by the low GHG emissions from citizens in the mixed scenario (1.77 kgCO2, eq inh−1 y−1 vs. 6.65 kgCO2, eq inh−1 y−1). Given the low amount of data on this topic, this work could be considered as a pioneer study of waste management in mountainous areas by comparing the results of two systems regarding effectiveness and GHG emissions. The outcomes of this study could be helpful for waste utilities, institutional agencies, and local communities and also serve as a tool for decision-making in the case of comparing the different options for USW collection systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid waste management is a complex issue, and this was especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Several challenges related to this issue emerged because of the pandemic, during which countries with limited resources heavily relied on community participation. This study investigates the factors that contribute to the collective action of urban communities in waste management as a solution to raising awareness. This study adopted a quantitative method that incorporated four independent variables and one dependent variable with a 4-point Likert scale questionnaire. The data were collected through a survey using a purposive sampling method. The data collected are proportional because there is no sampling frame in this study. An analysis of the 200 samples collected in Jakarta reveals that community participation, social norms, social influence, and socioeconomic status impact collective action. However, the result from an ordinal regression analysis only shows community participation and social influence as significant variables with corresponding odds ratios of .263/.379 and .053/.168 for every one-unit increase. This study concludes that higher community participation and social influence will likely affect people's collective action in waste management. Policies and programs incorporating community participation and social influence can be implemented based on the findings to tackle waste management awareness issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is globally known that the COVID-19 pandemic affected all aspects of society, including issues pertaining to health, economic, social, and environmental issues. The pandemic has already continued for two years and counting, and we are now advised to live coexisting with COVID-19 in the new normal era. During this new normal era, especially in Indonesia, many medical wastes (face masks, gloves, goggles, etc.) and other type of wastes are being generated due to COVID-19. However, the waste profile (waste management or waste handling) and the specific waste distribution in Indonesia during COVID-19 is not clearly understood. Therefore, in this study we perform a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of studies published during COVID-19 to describe the aforementioned issues regarding waste management in Indonesia by extracting data from Scopus as a leading indexing service for peer-reviewed publications. From more than 230,000 titles in Scopus regarding COVID-19, there are only 24 titles related to waste management in Indonesia during COVID-19. From the bibliometric analysis of the extracted data from Scopus, it can be observed that there are four clusters of interest, namely (1) medical waste and its processing, (2) COVID-19-related issues, (3) Indonesia and waste management, and (4) solid waste. The study of these issues is essential to obtain not only a clean environment, but also a sustainable future for an Indonesia that is free from COVID-19 and other related diseases in the future. Moreover, the bibliometric analysis also uncovers the research and publication gap for the topic of waste management in Indonesia in the COVID-19 pandemic era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the world's most important industry. According to the structure, Šumadija district is mainly composed of arable land and gardens, which make up 69%. The increased amount of COVID-19 waste generated from medical activities in rural areas needs to be properly handled due to its contagious, even lethal properties. The aim of this study is an analysis of two drivers through the generation of COVID-19 waste, Central and local treatment site, proposed transport routes, and total cost in Šumadija district. Results showed the economic costs of transportation increased 2.5 times compared to before and after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the increase in health risk was correlated to the increase in the per capita cost of transportation along the transportation routes. Analyses of human health risks and detailed financial calculations gave a clear insight in infectious waste management possible influence on agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since March 11, 2020, the global community has faced the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, numerous countries, including the Republic of Lithuania, mandated the wearing of face masks to curb the virus's spread. Yet, a section of the Lithuanian populace resisted this move, voicing concerns about the inconvenience of mask-wearing and potential privacy infringements. These concerns endured, even amidst debates on the masks' effectiveness. This article explores how the Lithuanian public responded to mask-wearing protocols during the pandemic. Survey analysis highlighted a troubling trend: many individuals dispose of face masks with their regular trash, often without proper packaging. Most masks are sourced from pharmacies or are provided by employers and are typically thrown away after just one day of use. The data underscores a significant knowledge gap in correct mask disposal, as a significant portion ends up mingled with general household waste, without proper containment. Moreover, many people keep used masks in pockets or bags. Notably, during the pandemic, an estimated 2 mln adult Lithuanians may have generated roughly 15.24 Mg of hazardous plastic waste through mask disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period from 2019 to 2022 has been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented demand for and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). However, the disposal of PPE without considering its environmental impact and proper waste management practices has become a growing concern. The increased demand for PPE during the pandemic and associated waste management practices have been analyzed. Additionally, the discussion around treating these residues and exploring more environmentally friendly alternatives, such as biodegradable or reusable PPE, is crucial. The extensive use of predominantly non-degradable plastics in PPE has led to their accumulation in landfills, with potential consequences for marine environments through the formation of microplastics. Therefore, this article seeks to establish a connection between these issues and the Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing the importance of efficient management aligned with sustainable development objectives to address these emerging challenges and ensure a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The COVID‐19 pandemic has provided preliminary evidence of the existence of health, social, and environmental inequalities. This inequality encompasses inadequate access to safe water, clean air, and wastewater management, as well as limited socioeconomic and educational opportunities. These issues have not received sufficient attention during the pandemic. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide a comprehensive summary and analysis of the existing literature on a specific topic, ultimately leading to a conclusion based on the evidence presented. Methods: The search methodology for this study involved conducting comprehensive searches of scientific databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, LILACS, and Google Scholar, from 2019 to 2023. The study focused on a specific theme and its relevant aspects related to global environmental health and society. Keywords such as COVID‐19, inequities, and environmental health were used for searching. Additionally, the Boolean operator "AND" was used to combine these descriptors. Results: Unequal exposure to air pollution has been reported in Africa, as well as in large parts of Asia and Latin America, according to the data that has been obtained. The pandemic has also resulted in a surge in healthcare waste generation, exacerbating the environmental impact of solid waste. Furthermore, there is evidence indicating significant disparities in the severe lack of access to sanitation services between developing nations and low‐income regions. The issues related to water availability, accessibility, and quality are subject to debate. It has been reported that SARS‐CoV‐2 is present not only in untreated/raw water, but also in water bodies that act as reservoirs. Moreover, insufficient education, poverty, and low household income have been identified as the most significant risk factors for COVID‐19 infection and mortality. Conclusion: It is evident that addressing socio‐environmental inequality and striving to narrow the gap by prioritizing vulnerable populations are imperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection prevention and control measures are effective at protecting patients and healthcare workers from healthcare-acquired infections, averting onward transmission of the disease and mitigating the impact of the outbreak on the healthcare system. This study assessed the compliance of public hospitals and isolation facilities with a set of standards for COVID-19 infection prevention and control. A 35-point questionnaire was developed and utilized to collect data from selected facilities in 38 local government units across the country. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and differences between island groups were tested using Pearson's χ2 test for categorical variables. The results indicate that hospitals reported better infection prevention and control preparedness and compliance than temporary treatment and monitoring facilities in the domains of engineering and administrative controls. However, weak compliance was observed in a number of indicators for waste management in both types of facilities. These suggest that periodic monitoring and the augmentation of resources are necessary to sustain adherence to standards and to immediately address compliance gaps. In addition, systemic improvements through sufficient planning and long-term investments are required to sustain infection prevention and control practices over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a science mapping approach, we analyzed the exponential increase in the number of scientific documents about the negative environmental impacts produced by waste from personal protective equipment (PPE), especially face masks, used to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission worldwide. Our results revealed that India, China, and Canada are leaders in this research field, which is clearly related to environmental issues, but also the solutions developed from an engineering point of view. Our analysis of the most-relevant documents in the field uncovered the considerable negative effects of PPE waste in aquatic media, its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, effects on wildlife, etc. To reduce the negative environmental impacts of PPE waste, we need to implement innovative ecodesign strategies for their green production, including their re-use as and the use of recycling materials, but also a collaboration with the population to reduce PPE waste at its source. Both action lines could be materialized by establishing a collective, extended producer responsibility system for PPE to ensure their sustainable production and consumption. These well-implemented strategies will contribute to maintaining progress towards achieving sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has wreaked havoc especially in 2020 and the first half of 2021 and has left severe after-effects affecting not only the health sector but also all aspects of human life. The aim of this study is to inspect the current trends of the quantities of household waste produced during the first four waves of the pandemic. The study was carried out in Guelma city, northeastern of Algeria, where the first containment was registered on February 25, 2020, it concerns an Italian national (Mohamed et al. 2021). An increase in the production of household waste of approximately 14% during the first containment was recorded in the study area, with the interruption of recycling, which caused an enormous pressure on the technical landfill center of Guelma. The results showed that the trend of waste production decreased at the following averages: 205.80; 198.92; 196.69 and 192.43 tons, for the first four waves of COVID-19 respectively. Therefore, a return to the pre-pandemic state would be close, which dampens the impact and pressure on the landfill and the environment. This research allows for perceiving the waste management status in Algeria, between the pandemic and post--pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has spurred a reassessment of Municipal Solid Waste management strategies and approaches. A significant need for sanitation and hygiene was accentuated for disease prevention and control with the onset of the pandemic. With an alteration of the status quo in waste management system, an unprecedented amount of face masks, protective equipment, and other biological wastes was generated in the form of Municipal Solid Waste . This upsurge of potentially infected wastes originated a risk of transmission amongst frontline workers. Furthermore, the potential contamination of Municipal Solid Waste was rendered as a legitimate threat due to improper collection practices, disposal and handling of solid waste. Several novel waste disposal techniques and waste management policies were also introduced during this period. However, the sanitation-policy making-occupational safety nexus remains inadequately explored under the prevalent COVID-19 scenario. Through the prism of shifting waste composition, this review offers a global assessment of existing solid waste management systems during the COVID-19 pandemic. The physiological and psychological hazards faced by the frontline workers were explored and instances of best-case and worst-case policies on solid waste handling were recorded. Modern methods of waste disposal and latest trends of policymaking were evaluated. A model study of unsupervised learning via Partition Around Medoids cluster analysis was undertaken to reveal underlying patterns of waste management policies. Although, the clusters were formed devoid of any socio-economic parameters, this study strives to indicate proof of concept and can serve as a precursor to advanced clustering studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the Americas, the continent with the highest number of COVID-related deaths according to WHO statistics. In Latin America, strict confinement conditions at the beginning of the pandemic put recycling activity to a halt and augmented the consumption of plastic as a barrier to stop the spread of the virus. The lack of data to understand waste management dynamics complicates waste management strategy adjustments aimed at coping with COVID-19. As a novel contribution to the waste management data gap for Latin America, this study uses a virtual and participatory methodology that collects and generates information on household solid waste generation and composition. Data was collected between June and November 2021 in six countries in Latin America, with a total of 503 participants. Participants indicated that the pandemic motivated them to initiate or increase waste reduction (41%), waste separation (40%), and waste recovery (33%) activities. Forty-three percent of participants perceived an increase in total volume of their waste; however, the quantitative data showed a decrease in household waste generation in Peru (−31%), Honduras (−25%), and Venezuela (−82%). No changes in waste composition were observed. Despite the limited sample size, this data provides a much-needed approximation of household waste generation and composition in the pandemic situation during 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since food waste is a contemporary and complicated issue that is widely debated across many societal areas, the world community has designated the reduction of food waste as a crucial aspect of establishing a sustainable economy. However, waste management has numerous challenges, such as inadequate funding, poor waste treatment infrastructure, technological limitations, limited public awareness of proper sanitary practices, and inadequate legal and regulatory frameworks. A variety of microorganisms participate in the process of anaerobic digestion, which can be used to convert organic waste into biogas (e.g., methane) and nutrient-rich digestate. In this study, we propose a synergy among multiple disciplines such as nanotechnology, omics, artificial intelligence, and bioengineering that leverage anaerobic digestion processes to optimize the use of current scientific and technological knowledge in addressing global food waste challenges. The integration of these fields carries with it a vast amount of potential for improved waste management. In addition, we highlighted the relevance, importance, and applicability of numerous biogas-generating technologies accessible in each discipline, as well as assessing the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on waste production and management systems. We identify diverse solutions that acknowledge the necessity for integration aimed at drawing expertise from broad interdisciplinary research to address food waste management challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected human lifestyle in numerous ways and one such key affected social element is the management of household plastic waste. Due to its effective barrier properties against the COVID-19 virus, usage and consumption of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other single-use plastic (SUP) products have increased exponentially to meet the accelerated demand. Therefore, this paper analyses the changes in community behavioural patterns of household plastic waste management with the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation in Sri Lanka. The comparative analysis of majorly consumed plastic waste types, plastic disposal methods, and perceptions of existing policies before and after the pandemic are broadly discussed. A comprehensive questionnaire was conducted in a stratified randomly sampled community and analysed using SPSS. Disposable face masks (39.9%) and hand sanitiser products (33.0%) were popular plastic products during the pandemic. The frequency of handing over the waste to collectors and recycling centres decreased slightly, from 32.1% to 31.4% and 24.2%–19.8%, respectively. Conversely, respondents’ preference for burning plastic waste increased from 23.4% to 27.0% after the pandemic. The plastic disposal methods from before and after the pandemic are significantly associated with income level (p = 0.00) and employment status (p = 0.00). No significant association was observed between the disposal method before the pandemic and the education level of respondents (p = 0.185). However, a significant association was evident between the disposal method after the pandemic and the education level of respondents (p = 0.025).

Parangtritis Beach, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, is one of the most visited tourist destinations for domestic and international tourists. These tourists are required to carry out health protocols by wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The high number of visits is linear with the generation of waste in tourist areas. Marine debris is defined as any solid material that settles, dumps, or is dumped, dumped, or disposed of in the marine and coastal environment. Efficient management of marine debris is a coordinated strategic approach to dealing with problems and inefficient law enforcement to improve the preservation of the marine environment. This study aimed to analyze the composition, characteristics, and management of marine debris in the Parangtritis Beach area during the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of waste generated during the pandemic was recorded at 0.9 kg/m2.day. Sampling is carried out using the line transect method. The composition of waste consists of PET, PE, other plastics, biodegradable organics, and masks, each of which is 17.86%, 32.54%, 6.85%, 37.61% and 5.14%. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mask waste has become waste that has a new category, namely infectious. The characteristics of marine debris other than organic biodegradable tend to have a high calorific value so that it is possible to be processed by thermal processes. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) shows that Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), (Polyethylene) PE, and mask waste can be decomposed at a temperature of 260-550°C. Organic waste has been managed by processing Black Soldier Fly (BSF), while plastic waste can be processed into handicraft products. In contrast, the remaining plastic waste and masks are processed by a thermal process to allow waste to energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unfortunately, nearly the whole world came to a standstill due to the coronavirus disease 2019, i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively and severely impacted almost all facets of society, systems, and lives on the planet during the last few years. During this time, a surge in the generation of a huge volume of diverse wastes at an unprecedented rate occurred due to the extensive use of disposables and personal shielding safety gear such as personal protective equipment (PPE) for both infected and uninfected people as well as frontline staff, etc., as corona protocols, especially in the form of "plastic wastes". Consequently, all these factors induced a novel route for the pollution of air, soil, and water, inviting a great number of health hazards in addition to the pandemic. Beyond a doubt, the susceptibility of the spread of the coronavirus through polluted waste is high, an issue for which the waste management measures are comparatively not up to the mark. The spread of COVID-19 forced the world into lockdown, which had both constructive and unconstructive effects on not only the environment but also systems such as the waste management sector, etc. The unforeseen increase in the quantity of waste created a challenge concerning normal waste disposal facilities, negatively impacting the global waste management industry, and hence, leading to an urgent situation internationally. Still, in developing nations, the sector of waste management is at its nascent stage, and therefore, the sector of waste management during the pandemic period has been influenced severely in many parts of the world. The current comprehensive review provides not only an overview of the impacts and challenges of COVID-19 on the waste management sector but also extends the systematic data of waste generation that has been made accessible so far along with a discussion on the safety of the related workers and staff as well as suggestions for the possible approaches towards better waste management services, which are essential to manage the waste increase resultant of the COVID-19 pandemic in a majority of nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic forces people to be vaccinated as early as possible. The COVID-19 vaccination program certainly raised the medical waste volume all over the world, including in Bangladesh. Numerous recent reports showed a fragile medical waste management system in Bangladesh; during the pandemic, the situation became worse. In addition, the nation-wide ongoing COVID-19 vaccination processes have been posing an extra burden to the existing biomedical waste management in the country. Failing to proper management of this waste might be a threat to human and environmental health. Therefore, the study investigated the current COVID-19 vaccine waste management practices in Bangladesh and made a comparison to the proposed standard operating procedures of international organizations and vaccine waste management practices of two other countries (USA and India). The study was carried out through a mixed methodological approach such as qualitative and quantitative, including a questionnaire survey in 15 Upazila of 4 Districts (Dhaka, Narayanganj, Manikganj, and Gazipur) of Bangladesh. The article focused on a nation-wide legitimate COVID-19 vaccination waste estimation, strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat (SWOT) analysis and drivers, pressure, state, impact, and response (DPSIR) framework analysis to identify the present state of medical waste management in the study area. The study found an excellent segregation system (100%) but very poor waste handling (35.5%) along with very poor syringes and sharps disposal method (open burning without buried 46.6%) and poor vials disposal method (without disinfection/open dump 52%) of vaccine waste. It is estimated that about 58 and 257.85 tonnes of syringes (with needles and packaging) and vaccine vials (Sinopharm 2 doses) waste have been generated since the mass-vaccination program started. Upon SWOT analysis, good separation techniques, poor waste management (ex-situ), enough space for management, and environmental and human health concerns were mostly identified as a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat, respectively. Finally, a DPSIR framework was prepared for vaccine waste generation and its consequences in the studied area. This study will be useful to prepare a suitable vaccination waste management system in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, also known as the COVID-19 pandemic, developing and poor African countries face severe challenges in controlling infectious trash. As a result, the goal of this report is to assist decision-makers in determining the waste management approach accessible during the COVID-19 epidemic. Objective: To assess health-care waste management and associated variables in public health institutions in Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia, during the covid-19 pandemic. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was undertaken at public health facilities in the Hadiya zone from March 15 to March 30, 2021. The information gathered was entered into EpiData software (version 3.1). SPSS software was used to conduct the analysis (version 20). We computed descriptive statistics. At 95% confidence intervals, a p-value of 0.05 was considered statistically significant for health care waste management. Results: A total of 411 people participated, with a response rate of 97.8%. The overall proportion of acceptable health care waste management was 231% (56.2%). In multivariable logistic regression, study participants with 5 years of service were 1.59 times more likely than their counterparts to handle health care waste appropriately (AOR 95% CI=1.59(1.02– 2.48)). Those who received waste management training were 1.94 times more likely than their counterparts. Those who had enough PPE were 2.14 times more likely than those who did not to handle health care waste appropriately (AOR 95% CI=2.14(1.35– 3.34)). Conclusions and Recommendation: The proportion of acceptable health care waste management was found to be low in the study. Service year, waste management training, the availability of suitable personal protective equipment (PPE), and prior waste-related injury experience are all required. It is advised that health-care facility administration offer training and personal protection equipment for healthcare workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This paper summarizes effective waste management and disposal methods for plastic and medical wastes during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We reviewed the literatures reporting and identifying the current status and characteristics of wastes related to COVID-19, and the management and treatment guidelines for those wastes. We also investigated various technologies for waste treatment and disposal, and assessed the current status and future direction of the technologies in Korea. Results and Discussion In the first half of 2020 in Korea, the amount of plastic waste produced had increased by 15.6% year-on-year, and medical waste production also increased significantly from 0.6 ton in January 2020 to 2,928 ton in August 2021. All of the infectious wastes are currently being incinerated in Korea, but there are concerns on air pollutant emissions and insufficient treatment facilities. Municipal solid waste also suffers from a lack of landfill capacity and low price competitiveness in the recycling industry. Conclusions Policy and system need to be improved to reduce the infectious waste generation from the sources, and treatment and disposal technologies for produced wastes also need to be developed. Furthermore, hospitals and health care facilities should establish their own waste reducing systems which may include chemical treatment and sterilization units.

This paper investigated the household practices developed in the disposal of waste in the city of Mossoró, RN, during the pandemic period. Through an online form with 16 open and closed questions, the research reached 71 people in 21 different neighborhoods and the rural area of the municipality. It was found that most respondents did not know about the selective collection service in their neighborhoods or place of residence, as well as lacked knowledge about the separation of waste. Furthermore, 57% of the people stated that there was an increase in household waste during the pandemic, with 26% pointing to an increase in organic waste and plastic packaging. It is clear, therefore, the importance of the performance of the state and municipal sphere in the management of solid waste and compliance with the National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS). Strategies for the operationalization of socio-environmental policies must also be developed in times of crisis, since the selective collection was paralyzed during the COVID-19 pandemic, harming the associations of recyclable waste pickers and the management of solid waste, since this material ended up in the local landfill.