ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Good health and a safe environment are essential for sustainable development, including the appropriate management of healthcare wastes. The study intends to assess the generation rate and management methods of healthcare waste in the regional hospital center and a private clinic in Tangier, Morocco, with a focus on potential risks to health workers from infectious diseases. METHODS: The study collected data on healthcare waste generation over a period of two months by measuring and analyzing general and hazardous waste using an electronic scale. The data was presented as averages in kilograms per bed per day and as percentages. A questionnaire was provided to 100 healthcare workers. It included questions on their sociodemographic characteristics and their knowledge and attitudes regarding healthcare waste management. FINDINGS: The case study revealed that the healthcare waste production in the two institutions varied, with the private clinic producing 0.76 kilograms per day per bed and the regional hospital center producing 1.84 kilograms per day per bed. The survey also discovered that the hazardous fraction of waste generated in the regional hospital center was 40 percent, which was much higher than the World Health Organization's estimation. The daily amount of hazardous waste generated increased from 260.49 kilograms to 436.81 kilograms postCOVID-19. The survey found gaps in knowledge, attitudes, and daily challenges in waste management practices among the health workers in both facilities. CONCLUSION: The survey findings suggest that the healthcare waste management methods in Tangier are unsafe and may endanger the health workers and patients. The study found that the lack of monitoring and control contributed significantly to noncompliance with good practices. These findings can be used by the regional divisions of the Ministry of Health to develop specific protocols for managing sanitary emergencies and perform routine observation and training at all levels in the two facilities studied © This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
ABSTRACT
Since the containment measures placed in several countries to deal with Covid-19 pandemic, air and noise pollution has been significantly reduced, but what about soil pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from waste management? Covid-19 has given a break to the earth by immobilizing a very large part of the world economy, industrial activity, and transport and by having an important modification on the Moroccan consumer behaviour. This demographic evolution and change of consumption do not infect the resources, but are a source of degradation and pollution of the different environmental components. Among these sources, we find the production of household and similar waste. Our objective is to rate the impact of this pandemic on waste production, in Ajdir landfill, El Hoceima, which reflects the activity of the Moroccan citizen (between March 20 and April 27, 2020), and the initiatives that have been taken and launched to solve the problems at the level of each province through the establishment of a provincial master plan for the management of household and similar waste. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
This research paper has shed light on the adverse effects of the covid-19 pandemic on our environment, which led us to lockdown at home and work or study remotely. Thus, American University of Ras-al-Khaimah was also closed, forcing all students to attend classes online. As a result of the online study model, the university environment has gradually changed. In actuality, this has impacted the environment significantly. Waste production has been drastically reduced, and electricity and water usage have been reduced significantly. Therefore, this paper focuses on electricity and water consumption, where a comparison study was conducted between electricity consumption in KWHs and water consumption in gallons before and after the pandemic. Furthermore, the fact that there are fewer faculty members and fewer students on campus will reflect a reduction in the amount of waste produced on campus. According to the study, the online study model of education uses less electricity and water, protecting the environment, so it is recommended that it be adopted in the future © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, an average of 2 kg of waste per person are generated in Spain. Furthermore, the household consumption is rising and, as a consequence, the waste production is also increasing. This trend presents a direct impact in the environment. Moreover, after two years of COVID-19 pandemic, it has been detected a stronger rise in consumption per person, while consumption through professional commercial channels for hospitality industry has been lower. This paper analizes the waste generation and product shrinkage in a potato bagging plant, which addresses its production to both final consumers and retailers. The raw materials washing line, as well as the production line, are taken into consideration in the analysis, while new uses to the produced waste are proposed, aiming at providing new useful life, such as the production of bioplastics or the production of biodiesel. As a consequence, the environment impact is minimized and new products are obtained. © 2022 The Authors.