COVID-19 Global Biomedical Waste, Upcycling and Management Strategies

Covid-19 has globally engulfed the nations of the world causing thousands of deaths, provoking social stigma, shattering the pillars of economies, and wreaking havoc on an unprecedented scale. However, the problem doesn’t end here, as Covid-19 has generated massive biomedical waste (BMW) posing a challenge to the existing waste management infrastructure. Moreover, it is also playing a key role in microplastic pollution leading to eutrophication. Segregation of hazardous and non-hazardous BMWs is a major step of BMW management. Additionally, safe disposal and sustainable management of BMW is essential, otherwise, the world will have to face a waste pandemic in the near future. BMWs or hospital waste is any biowaste that is generally infectious. General methods for managing BMWs are autoclaving, incineration, deep burial, and shredding. Moreover, the government has approved some new techniques like sharp/needle blaster, Positive Impact Waste Solutions-3000 (PIWS-3000), and plasma pyrolysis on a trial basis. But all the existing treatments are lacking flexibility and are found inadequate during the pandemic. This is an hour of the call to upgrade technologies and hi-tech approaches should be used for the initial handling and transportation of BMWs. Parenthetically, technologies like biological treatment, catalytic solar disinfection, alkaline hydrolysis, steam sterilization, upcycling, microwave treatment, and nanotechnology have tremendous scope for BMW management. The final products obtained after treatment can potentially be fabricated in the built environment. Moreover, research and community awareness can be helpful in making people mindful of this problem. Overall, this book chapter is a precise and detailed summary of post-pandemic monitoring of environmental compartments to assess the possible impacts of pandemic waste.