The COVID-19 pandemic has had growing environmental consequences related to plastic use and follow-up waste, but more urgent health issues have far overshadowed the potential impacts. This paper gives a prospective outlook on how the disruption caused by COVID-19 can act as a catalyst for short-term and long-term changes in plastic waste management practices throughout the world. The impact of the pandemic and epidemic following through the life cycles of various plastic products, particularly those needed for personal protection and healthcare, is assessed. The energy and environmental footprints of these product systems have increased rapidly in response to the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide, while critical hazardous waste management issues are emerging due to the need to ensure destruction of residual pathogens in household and medical waste. The concept of Plastic Waste Footprint (PWF) is proposed to capture the environmental footprint of a plastic product throughout its entire life cycle. Emerging challenges in waste management during and after the pandemic are discussed from the perspective of novel research and environmental policies. The sudden shift in waste composition and quantity highlights the need for a dynamically reponsive waste management system. Six future research directions are suggested to mitigate the potential impacts of the pandemic on waste management systems.

Chemical Engineering Department De La Salle University 2401 Taft Avenue 0922 Manila Philippines

Department of Systems Science Institute of High Performance Computing ASTAR Singapore 138632 Singapore

Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory SPIL NETME Centre Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Brno University of Technology VUT Brno Technická 2896 2 616 69 Brno Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

MacKenzie D. Covid-19 goes global. New Sci. 2020;245(3271):7. PubMed PMC

Worldometer . 2020. COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic.http://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries%3C; accessed 08.04

Rajmohan K.V.S., Ramya C., Viswanathan M.R., Varjani S. Plastic pollutants: effective waste management for pollution control and abatement. Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health. 2019;12:72–84.

Windfeld E.S., Brooks M.S.-L. Medical waste management – a review. J Environ Manag. 2015;163:98–108. PubMed

Liu H.C., You J.X., Lu C., Chen Y.Z. Evaluating healthcare waste treatment technologies using a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making model. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2015;41:932–942.

Yu H., Sun X., Solvang W.D., Zhao X. Reverse logistics network design for effective management of medical waste in epidemic outbreaks: Insights from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan (China) Int J Environ Res Publ Health. 2020;17:1770. PubMed PMC

EVECO sro, EVECONT. www.evecobrno.cz/en/aktivity/waste-energy accessed 07.04.2020.

Zhao W., Van Der Doet E., Huppes G., Zhang Y. Comparative life cycle assessments of incineration and non-incineration treatments for medical waste. Int J Life Cycle Assess. 2009;14:114–121.

Hong J., Zhan S., Yu Z., Hong J., Qi C. Life-cycle environmental and economic assessment of medical waste treatment. J Clean Prod. 2018;174:65–73.

Makarichi L., Jutidamrongphan W., Techato K. The evolution of waste-to-energy incineration: a review. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2018;91:812–821.

Ferguson N.M., Laydon D., Nedjati-Gilani G., Imai N., Ainslie K., Baguelin M., Bhatia S., Boonyasiri A., Cucunubá Z., Cuomo-Dannenburg G., Dighe A., Dorigatti I., Fu H., Gaythorpe K., Green W., Hamlet A., Hinsley W., Okell L.C., van Elsland S., Thompson H., Verity R., Volz E., Wang H., Wang Y., Walker P.G.T., Walters C., Winskill P., Whittaker C., Donnelly C.A., Riley S., Ghani A.C. Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College; London, UK: 2020. Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand. COVID-19 Reports. DOI

Xu Z.Y., Wang R.Z., Yang C. Perspectives for low-temperature waste heat recovery. Energy. 2019;176:1037–1043.

Boucher J., Billard G. The challenges of measuring plastic pollution. Field Actions Science Reports, SI19. 2019:68–75. portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2019-027-En.pdf IUCN, Review of Plastic Footprint Methodologies.

Klemeš JJ, Fan YV, Plastic replacements: win or loss? 2020, 5th international conference on smart and sustainable technologies, SpliTech 2020, plenary lecture, IEEE.

Joint prevention and control mechanism of the state Council. 2020. www.gov.cn/xinwen/gwylflkjz53/index.htm

Tang W. 21st Century Business Herald; 2020. The medical waste related to COVID-2019 is cleaned up every day—the medical waste treatment market needs to be standardised.www.21jingji.com/2020/3-12/xNMDEzODFfMTU0MjIxNQ.html accessed 08.04.2020.

Schlegel I. 2020. How the plastic industry is exploiting anxiety about COVID-19.www.greenpeace.org/usa/how-the-plastic-industry-is-exploiting-anxiety-about-covid-19/

PlasticsEurope Plastics – the facts. 2019. www.plasticseurope.org/application/files/9715/7129/9584/FINAL_web_version_Plastics_the_facts2019_14102019.pdf

WHO – World Health Organisation . February 2018. Health-care waste.www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/health-care-waste

Statista, < www.statista.com/statistics/1107212/covid-19-food-delivery-frequency-in-great-britain/>, accessed 14.03.2020.

van Doremalen N., Bushmaker T., Morris D.H., Holbrook M.G., Gamble A., Williamson B.N., Tamin A., Harcourt J.L., Thornbury N.J., Gerber S.I., Lloyd-Smith J.O. Aerosol and surface stability of SARS-CoV-2 as compared with SARS-CoV-1. N Engl J Med. 2020 doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2004973. PubMed DOI PMC

Kampf G., Todt D., Pfaender S., Steinmann E. Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and its inactivation with biocidal agents. J Hosp Infect. 2020;104(3):246–251. PubMed PMC

Bourouiba L. Turbulent gas clouds and respiratory pathogen emissions. Potential implications for reducing transmission of COVID-19. J Am Med Assoc. 2020 doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.4756. PubMed DOI

Association of cities and regions for sustainable resource management. 2020. www.acrplus.org/en/municipal-waste-management-covid-19 accessed 30.03.2020.

Public health england. www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings/covid-19-decontamination-in-non-healthcare-settings

Cdc - centers for disease control and prevention <www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/environmental/background/medical-waste.html> accessed 07.04.2020.

E&E news - the essential news for energy and environment≤www.eenews.net/stories/1062690625> accessed 07.04.2020.

WHO – World Health Organisation, Treatment and disposal technologies for healthcare waste <www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/medicalwaste/077to112.pdf> accessed 07.04.2020.

The Hill, VA facility waste disposal measure could help limit the spread of coronavirus <thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/486057-waste-disposal-measure-could-help-limit-the-spread-of≥accessed 07.04.2020.

Al-Salem S.M. Plastics to energy. William Andrew, Elsevier; Amsterdam, Netherlands: 2019. Energy production from plastic solid waste (PSW) pp. 45–64.

Vanapalli K.R., Samal B., Dubey B.K., Bhattacharya J. Plastics to energy. William Andrew, Elsevier; Amsterdam, Netherlands: 2019. Emissions and environmental burdens associated with plastic solid waste management; pp. 313–342.

Mastellone M.L. Technical description and performance evaluation of different packaging plastic waste management's systems in a circular economy perspective. Sci Total Environ. 2020;718:137233. PubMed

Wasilewski R., Siudyga T. Energy recovery from waste plastics. CHEMIK. 2013;67(5):435–445.

RSC - Royal Society of Chemistry, Disposable cups information card <www.rsc.org/education/teachers/resources/inspirational/resources/6.2.2.pdf#targetText=In%20total%20about%2033%20g,polystyrene%20one%20about%201.5%20g>, accessed 10.03.2020.

Boustead Consulting and Associates. Final Report- LCA for three type of grocery bags <www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/publications/threetypeofgrocerybags.pdf> accessed 30.03.2020.

PlasticsToday Plastic more sustainable than paper, study shows. www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/plastic-more-sustainable-paper-study-shows/207518312859524

Eurostat, Packaging waste statistics <ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/pdfscache/10547.pdf> accessed 30.03.2020.

Fan Y.V., Klemeš J.J., Walmsley T.G., Bertók B. Implementing Circular Economy in municipal solid waste treatment system using P-graph. Sci Total Environ. 2020;701:134652. PubMed

Zheng J., Suh S. Strategies to reduce the global carbon footprint of plastics. Nat Clim Change. 2019;9(5):374–378.

OpenEnergyMonitor, Plastics <learn.openenergymonitor.org/sustainable-energy/energy/industry-plastic> accessed 30.03.2020.

IEA, Put clean energy at the heart of stimulus plans to counter the coronavirus crisis <www.iea.org/commentaries/put-clean-energy-at-the-heart-of-stimulus-plans-to-counter-the-coronavirus-crisis> accessed 23.04.2020.

Barry J. This is what a real emergency looks like: what the response to Coronavirus can teach us about how we can and need to respond to the planetary emergency. www.greenhousethinktank.org/uploads/4/8/3/2/48324387/this_is_what_a_real_emergency_looks_like_-_final_15-04-20.pdf accessed 23.04.2020.

Jambeck J.R., Geyer R., Wilcox C., Siegler T.R., Perryman M., Andrady A., Narayan R., Law K.L. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean. Science. 2015;347(6223):768–771. PubMed

Klemeš J.J., Varbanov P.S., Walmsley T.G., Jia X. New directions in the implementation of Pinch methodology (PM) Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2018;98:439–468.

A critical review on sustainable hazardous waste management strategies: a step towards a circular economy

Energy-saving COVID-19 biomedical plastic waste treatment using the thermal - Catalytic pyrolysis

To what extent do waste management strategies need adaptation to post-COVID-19?

Blockchain technology for agricultural supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: Benefits and cleaner solutions

Energy and environmental sustainability of waste personal protective equipment (PPE) treatment under COVID-19

Energy, environmental, economic and social equity (4E) pressures of COVID-19 vaccination mismanagement: A global perspective

COVID-19 pandemics Stage II - Energy and environmental impacts of vaccination

Covid-19 shock: Development of strategic management framework for global energy

COVID-19 pandemic facilitating energy transition opportunities

Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: Challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities

An update of COVID-19 influence on waste management

Process assessment, integration and optimisation: The path towards cleaner production

Advanced methods and technologies towards environmental sustainability

More Is Not Enough: A Deeper Understanding of the COVID-19 Impacts on Healthcare, Energy and Environment Is Crucial

Spatial-temporal potential exposure risk analytics and urban sustainability impacts related to COVID-19 mitigation: A perspective from car mobility behaviour

Data analytics of social media publicity to enhance household waste management

Asset maintenance optimisation approaches in the chemical and process industries - A review

Recent research directions: missing pieces of the puzzle

Simulation and Improvement of Patients' Workflow in Heart Clinics during COVID-19 Pandemic Using Timed Coloured Petri Nets

The energy and environmental footprints of COVID-19 fighting measures - PPE, disinfection, supply chains