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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]

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. [Display omitted] • COVID-19 exhibited great challenges and practices on waste management. • The discarded facemask was estimated during COVID-19 pandemic. • Immediate responses and technological approach for COVID-19 crisis were reviewed. • MSW incinerator, industrial furnace, cement kiln can be used as emergency disposal. • Short and mid-longer term responses in waste management were provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]