ABSTRACT
[...]best-in-class pharma companies are focusing on reliability and resilience in the supply chain-if they can't make a product or deliver a product on time, a patient is not served, and no sale is made. People can scale to a certain degree but scaling by a factor of 100 is not possible with people in a short period of time and does not deliver on economies of scale. Pharma companies are also issuing 'green bonds' where investors can expect the contribution of capital to improve the company's sustainability.
ABSTRACT
This study aims to analyze the development trend of municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment in China from 2011 to 2020, and provide insights into the challenges and opportunities of sustainable MSW management. Our analysis shows that MSW generation declined in 2020, which could be attributed to a combination of factors, including the low urban population growth rate, the implementation of the garbage classification policy, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also found that the shift from landfill to incineration is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, although there are still several structural problems, such as an imbalance in treatment capacity among regions and cities, and uncertainty about whether the increase in incineration treatment capacity can meet overall demand due to the high volume of MSW generation. Our analysis highlights the heavy dependence on government investment for MSW treatment mode change, which is difficult due to the expanding deficit between fiscal revenue and expenditure of local governments. Correlation coefficient analysis shows a significant positive correlation between the proportion of incineration and sanitation investment, and a significant negative correlation between the proportion of landfill treatment and sanitation investment. To address these challenges, we propose technological advancement and management optimization to reduce the cost of MSW treatment, as well as expansion of investment channels through green funds, taxation relief, and other means to promote high-quality and sustainable development of the MSW treatment industry. These changes could accelerate the transformation of China's MSW treatment industry from policy promotion-dependent to market-oriented sustainable operation.
ABSTRACT
The growth of healthcare waste (HCW) was driven by the spread of COVID-19. Effective HCW eradication has become a pressing global issue that requires immediate attention. Selecting an effective healthcare waste treatment technology (HCWTT) can aid in preventing waste buildup. HCWTT selection can be seen as a complex multi-criteria group evaluation problem as the process involves multiple types of criteria and decision-makers (DMs) facing uncertain and vague information. The key objective of this study is to create a useful tool for the evaluation of HCWTT that is appropriate for the organization's needs. A novel index system for assessing the HCWTT during the decision-making evaluation process is first presented. Then a new approach based on entropy measure, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and game theory for the integrated weighting procedure (IWP) is presented under a Fermatean fuzzy environment. A multi-criteria group analysis based on IWP, a technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and grey relational analysis (GRA), named IWP-TOPSIS-GRA framework suited to Fermatean fuzzy evaluation information, is developed. In a real-world case of HCWTT selection, through comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis, it is verified that the presented method is feasible and robust. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
The rapid expansion of plastic manufacturing industries in last several decades has brought serious concerns over the environmental impacts of plastic wastes. Recent outbreak of Covid-19 drastically increased production, use, and disposal of plastic products. Current management strategies for wasted plastics still rely on landfill and incineration that continue to exacerbate plastic pollution and carbon emissions. Many countries have put forward multifaceted administrative efforts to reduce plastic wastes, but the annual global generation of plastic wastes is still increasing. In techno-society, researchers have been exploring more effective plastic wastes treatment technologies to alleviate environmental impacts of plastic wastes. Such efforts entailed several technical options that can potentially contribute to establishing a circular economy for plastics. Thermochemical process is a prominent example of such techniques. This review presents an overview of the issue of plastic pollution, covering topics including global plastic production, environmental impacts, and toxicity. In addition, the global administrative efforts aimed at reducing plastic pollution are discussed, as well as detection and treatment strategies to establish a circular economy in plastic management. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
ABSTRACT
The presence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in water bodies has been considered an issue of global concern due to their high consumption and release into the environment, especially under pandemic conditions such as current COVID-19 situations. Additionally, the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) threatens the effectiveness of the pharmaceuticals developed to treat certain diseases. To address this problem, there have been efforts to develop efficient and cost-effective (waste)water treatment methods or to upgrade the existing facilities to regenerate clean water resources. According to the reports available in the literature, the effectiveness of these methods is highly dependent on the applied technology and the type and concentration of the PhACs. The efficiency of these systems can also determine the environmental and ecotoxicological effects expected from the release of these compounds. This chapter aims to summarize and discuss the available literature on the occurrence, environmental concentrations, fate, and possible effects of typical PhACs when introduced into receiving environments. The existing research gaps have also been discussed, and recommendations have been provided for further studies. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
The low degradability of waste plastics will continue to pollute the environment, and the spread of the COVID-19 has exacerbated the use and accumulation of plastics, and thus the efficient treatment of waste plastic resources has become an urgent technical problem to be solved. By analyzing several mainstream waste plastics treatment technologies, it was clear that resourceful and high value-added utilization technology was the most competitive and environmentally friendly waste plastics treatment route in the market. The research progress of high value-added utilization technology of waste plastics at home and abroad in recent years were reviewed. The development and variation of conventional thermal cracking technology were discussed. Through this route, the highest yield of waste plastics into fuel products can reach 97%—98%. It was pointed out that the conversion of waste plastics into jet fuel, high value-added chemicals and functional materials for special applications through chemical, catalytic and biological technologies was the mainstream research direction and development trend in this field. Among them, the yield of conversion to high value-added monomer could reach more than 97%, so as to realize the upgrading of plastic waste from the primary treatment stage of "waste clearance” to "turning waste into use” and "turning waste into treasure”, and help China achieve the goal of "double carbon”。. © 2023 Chemical Industry Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
PurposeThis paper aims to explore the relationship between the various variables present in the packaging plastic waste management system in the cosmetics industry.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors deal with plastic packaging waste in the cosmetic industry with the help of system dynamics. The model broadly divides the system into six sections – Cosmetic Packaging, Waste Generation, Waste Collected, Waste Sorted, Waste Treated and Waste Dumped. Businesses have been investing in each section depending on their progress and targets. The authors are looking at case studies of two leading cosmetic brands, L'Oréal and L'Occitane en Provence, to validate the industry practices against our model.FindingsFrom a business perspective, using the case study methodology for L'Oréal and L'Occitane, the authors inferred that out of the various investment vehicles available, companies are targeting technological advancement and third-party collaborations as they have the potential to offer the greatest visible change. However, most of these investments are going toward the treatment subsection. Still, there is a scope for improvement in the collection and sorting subsystems, increasing the efficiency of the whole chain.Originality/valueThere has been a lot of research on packaging plastic waste management in the past, but only a few of them focused on the cosmetic industry. This study aims to connect all the possible variables involved in the cosmetic industry's packaging plastic waste management system and provide a clear output variable for various businesses looking to manage their packaging waste because of their products efficiently.
ABSTRACT
A large number of people got infected and many lost their lives due to COVID-19. The increased volume and source-shuffling of the waste generated during the pandemic have challenged the current waste management facilities. The major sources of infectious waste not only include hospitals but also houses and quarantine facilities that lack in source-management thereby increasing the spread of the virus. This article focuses on waste collection and disposal techniques as major aspects of COVID-19 waste management. Also, it discusses the various waste disinfection technologies along with waste management strategies formulated by different organisations. The non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies have also been identified. Alongside this, various challenges and opportunities in COVID-19 waste management are reviewed. Accordingly, recommendations to achieve efficient waste management are stated. Waste management in case of such a pandemic requires proper segregation, storage, collection and treatment. Usage of multiple processes like pyrolysis, chemical treatment, microwave and radio wave is needed to be found for treatment of infectious waste. Increased amount of mixed waste creates the need to have method that is flexible enough. Large amount of PPE waste needs to be taken care of. Development of materials that can provide hygiene and have recyclability is essential. © 2023 Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers.
ABSTRACT
A rise in the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increase in biomedical waste (BMW) all over the globe that leads to the perilous situation. Hence, this review has made an attempt to gather all the guidelines for appropriate BMW management in dental practice during COVID-19 pandemic. The keywords such as Biomedical waste management guidelines, COVID-19, dental waste management, and India were used in the literature search engines such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar along with the various guidelines provided by international, national agencies and verified government websites with a focus on the BMW management in dentistry during COVID-19. The result enumerated that Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, categorizes the bio-medical waste generated from the health-care facility into four categories based on the segregation pathway and color code. These guidelines were reshaped in 2018, 2019, and in 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic. Collection and segregation of biomedical waste separately before handling it to the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility was highly recommended that should be labeled with "COVID-19” both in medical and dental waste management guidelines. This review revealed that BMW management guidelines should be followed by all the health-care fraternities including oral health professionals as they are at a heightened risk of COVID-19, it is vital that they are informed of the most up-to-date protocols for BMW disposal in this pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Medical waste management is a challenging problem that not only directly affects the environment but also people's health. This urgent issue is getting more and more attention in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. New infections are increasing exponentially in all countries globally, especially developing countries with large populations (e.g., India, Brazil, Bangladesh). Studies on the spread of the disease have listed one of the causes of this crisis as the Covid-19 waste treatment process not being followed correctly and the difficulty of data retrieval. Vietnam was also severely damaged by the Covid-19 epidemic, although the government initially controlled the disease very well. The Covid-19 waste treatment process in Vietnam is still being processed manually and with a combination of many departments. Data sharing and tracking are also tricky because they are centrally stored in different facilities/departments. In addition, there is a lack of synchronization and transparency of shared data. This paper is one of the first attempts to fill that gaps by applying Blockchain technology and decentralized storage. Relevant parties will retrieve all data, and the source of waste can be easily traced. We also implemented a proof-of-concept based on the Hyperledger Fabric platform to demonstrate the idea's feasibility. In the evaluation, we observe the process of initializing and querying data. These initial efforts will lay the groundwork for more in-depth studies to create an initiative for Vietnam's medical waste treatment process when faced with a new wave of infections or another epidemic. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
ABSTRACT
In accordance with global economic prosperity, the frequencies of food delivery and takeout orders have been increasing. The pandemic life, specifically arising from COVID-19, rapidly expanded the food delivery service. Thus, the massive generation of disposable plastic food containers has become significant environmental problems. Establishing a sustainable disposal platform for plastic packaging waste (PPW) of food delivery containers has intrigued particular interest. To comprise this grand challenge, a reliable thermal disposable platform has been suggested in this study. From the pyrolysis process, a heterogeneous plastic mixture of PPW was converted into syngas and value-added hydrocarbons (HCs). PPW collected from five different restaurants consisted of polypropylene (36.9 wt%), polyethylene (10.5 wt%), polyethylene terephthalate (18.1 wt%), polystyrene (13.5 wt%), polyvinyl chloride (4.2 wt%), and other composites (16.8 wt%). Due to these compositional complexities, pyrolysis of PPW led to formations of a variety of benzene derivatives and aliphatic HCs. Adapting multi-stage pyrolysis, the different chemicals were converted into industrial chemicals (benzene, toluene, styrene, etc.). To selectively convert HCs into syngas (H2 and CO), catalytic pyrolysis was adapted using supported Ni catalyst (5 wt% Ni/SiO2). Over Ni catalyst, H2 was produced as a main product due to C[sbnd]H bond scission of HCs. When CO2 was used as a co-reactant, HCs were further transformed to H2 and CO through the chemical reactions of CO2 with gas phase HCs. CO2-assisted catalytic pyrolysis also retarded catalyst deactivation inhibiting coke deposition on Ni catalyst. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
ABSTRACT
This work covers important aspects of the occurrence and viability of various viruses in the two most common reusable waste resources: wastewater and biomass waste. Detection of human, bacterial and plant viruses in these wastes are summarized. Historically, human viruses have been monitored in wastewater for decades. Evidence suggests that wastewater mostly contains fecal-orally transmitted viruses, which are abundant and diverse. Recently, an increasing occurrence of SARS-CoV2 in sewage water with the spreading epidemics has been confirmed but lacking biological proof of infectivity yet. Besides human pathogens, wastewater is shown to be rich in bacteriophages and plant viruses as well, which supposedly enter the water from human guts. Viruses serving as water quality indicators are also discussed here. Lastly, we focus on biomass waste treatment, showing the presence of some common and stable plant viruses which may supposedly survive the technological process. Copyright © Publisher PH <<Akademperiodyka>> of the NAS of Ukraine, 2022.
ABSTRACT
This work covers important aspects of the occurrence and viability of various viruses in the two most common reusable waste resources: wastewater and biomass waste. Detection of human, bacterial and plant viruses in these wastes are summarized. Historically, human viruses have been monitored in wastewater for decades. Evidence suggests that wastewater mostly contains fecal-orally transmitted viruses, which are abundant and diverse. Recently, an increasing occurrence of SARS-CoV2 in sewage water with the spreading epidemics has been confirmed but lacking biological proof of infectivity yet. Besides human pathogens, wastewater is shown to be rich in bacteriophages and plant viruses as well, which supposedly enter the water from human guts. Viruses serving as water quality indicators are also discussed here. Lastly, we focus on biomass waste treatment, showing the presence of some common and stable plant viruses which may supposedly survive the technological process. Copyright © Publisher PH <<Akademperiodyka>> of the NAS of Ukraine, 2022.
ABSTRACT
Community health centers are the frontliners of healthcare services which in its activities produces medical waste and non-medical waste both in solid and liquid form. This waste needs to be managed in accordance with existing regulations where environmental management must be carried out systematically and sustainably. Regarding the management of Covid-19 medical waste in the health facilities of North Toraja Regency, this study aims to determine the management process, management constraints and compare the management of wastewater and hazardous and toxic solid medical waste generated from handling Covid-19 patients at hospitals and health centers in Toraja Regency. North. The research method used is descriptive research method with case study design. Data collection techniques are carried out by observations, interviews, and documentation of secondary data. The results show that the management of hazardous and toxic solid medical waste water and waste for Covid-19 patients in private hospitals leaves the processing to third parties and government hospitals destroy solid hazardous medical waste with incinerators, while at community health center the wastewater is directly discharged into water bodies and medical hazardous waste. handed over to a third party. The process of treating waste water and hazardous and toxic solid medical waste for Covid-19 patients at the health facilities of North Toraja Regency has not been in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Indonesian Ministry of Health. The main obstacle in processing solid medical waste water and hazardous waste for Covid-19 patients at the health facilities of North Toraja Regency is the lacking of operational costs and delays in disbursing operational costs. Government-owned hospitals were found to be slow to comply the Covid-19 Health Facilities Waste Management Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia.
ABSTRACT
One of the most important events in recent years is the Covid-19 epidemic, which began in 2019 and continues to this day. The virus is transmitted in several ways, including medical waste (face masks, hand gloves, gowns, covers, etc.) Medical waste has increased, and the only successful way of treatment is incineration. The paper presents a design model of a mobile medical incinerator for Health Care Centres of Covid-19 in Baghdad. The clinical capacity of one centre is 50 beds and the amount of waste produced is 100 kg per day. The mobile incinerator presented has a capacity of 25 kg/h, has high efficiency, and eliminates the transmission of the virus from one area to another, by waste. The incineration process leads to the reduction of waste weight by 75% and waste volume by 95%. The paper presents a model to calculate the volume of the primary and secondary combustion chambers. The mass of gas fuel added to the burners, the volume of flue gases resulted from the medical waste combustion and the residence time of the resulting gases in the secondary combustion chamber are determined. © 2022, Politechnica University of Bucharest. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Globally, the pandemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is spreading quickly. Inadequate handling of contaminated garbage and waste management can unintentionally transmit the virus within the company. the complete spectrum from waste generation to treatment must be re-evaluated to scale back the socio-economic and environmental impacts of waste and help achieve a sustainable society. In the area of computer vision, deep learning is beginning to demonstrate high efficiency and minimal complexity. However, the problem now is the performance of the various CNN architectures with transfer learning compared to the classification of medical waste images. Using data augmentation, and preprocessing before performing the two-stage classification of medical waste classification. The research obtained an accuracy of 99.40%, a sensitivity of 98.18%, and a specificity of 100% without overfitting. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Objetivo: O artigo buscou analisar os impactos e reflexos da pandemia de COVID-19 na gestão dos resíduos plásticos. Referencial teórico: A preocupação com a COVID-19 resultou em diversas medidas protetivas, como a determinação do uso de EPIs e restrições de circulação nos centros urbanos. Essas mudanças também impactaram padrões de geração e gestão de resíduos sólidos, especialmente de resíduos plásticos, cujos reflexos negativos nos aspectos socioambientais podem emergir, dado seu descarte inadequado. Método: Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de literatura, nas bases de dados Scopus, Sage e Web of Science, com utilização do Methodi Ordinatio. Ao total, 22 estudos foram selecionados, compondo o portfólio de pesquisa. Resultados e conclusão: Os resultados demonstraram uma maior concentração de estudos que relacionam os resíduos plásticos nas regiões costeiras, especialmente provenientes de EPIs, e a poluição por microplásticos. Além disso, há uma preocupação com a geração de resíduos de embalagens pela alteração nos padrões de consumo, com o aumento da procura por serviços de e-commerce e delivery. Além de uma preocupação ambiental, destaca-se um problema de ordem social à longo prazo, devido à quebra de padrões de comportamentos sustentáveis na utilização de plástico descartável. Implicações da pesquisa: Soluções são propostas no sentido de utilização de plásticos biodegradáveis, reutilização de EPIs e novas tecnologias de tratamento de resíduos, além da mudança no comportamento social. Originalidade/valor: De um modo geral, o estudo fornece insights e promove reflexões sobre os desafios enfrentados no gerenciamento de resíduos plásticos durante a pandemia de COVID-19.Alternate :Purpose: The article aims to analyze the impacts and reflections of the COVID-19 pandemic on plastic waste management. Theoretical Framework: The concern with COVID-19 resulted in several protective measures, such as the use of PPE and movement restrictions in urban centers. These changes also affected patterns of generation and management of solid waste, especially plastic waste, whose negative effects on socio-environmental aspects may emerge due to its inadequate disposal. Method: We conducted a systematic literature review in the databases Scopus, Sage and Web of Science, employing the Methodi Ordinatio. The review selected 22 studies to compose the research portfolio. Results and conclusion: The results showed a higher concentration of studies on plastic waste in coastal regions, especially from PPE and microplastic pollution. Moreover, there is a concern with the generation of packaging waste by shifting consumption patterns with the increased demand for e-commerce and delivery services. Besides an environmental concern, a long-term social problem stands out regarding the breaking of sustainable behavior patterns in using disposable plastic. Research implications: We propose solutions involving the use of biodegradable plastics, reuse of PPE, and new waste treatment technologies, besides changes in social behavior. Originality/Value: Overall, the study provides insights and promotes reflections on the challenges faced in managing plastic waste during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Medical wastes bring probable hazards and public risks if not handled correctly, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. Waste management costs are rising due to continues devastation of covid-19 virus. Increased care and handling processes have been implemented to avoid further spreading the infection while ensuring the proper disposal. Given this, medical waste related to covid-19, including other wastes generated by medical facilities, requires delicate integration into the waste management process thru a reverse logistics network for cost-efficient collection, processing, and transport style. Using AMPL software as solving tool, this paper was designed to utilize a mixed-integer linear programming model of a reverse logistics network to improve medical waste management by identifying the total minimum cost of the waste disposal cycle from Waste generating facilities, treatment facilities, and to the disposal factory. © 2022 ACM.
ABSTRACT
After the outbreak of COVID-19, it spread rapidly all over the world. A large number of infected patients have led to a sharp increase in medical waste. This puts great pressure on the medical waste treatment system. The disposal capacity of the system may not be able to meet such a large amount of medical waste, which may lead to delayed treatment of infectious medical waste (IMW) and accumulation of non-infectious medical waste (NMW). Therefore, this paper proposes that it is necessary to classify IMW and NMW, and reconstruct the domestic waste disposal plant to treat NMW to alleviate the pressure of the treatment system. This paper also establishes an eco-economics model to optimize the emergency disposal scheme. The effectiveness of the model is verified by a real case in Wuhan. It is found that the location and carbon emission coefficient of the domestic waste disposal plants are the key factors affecting its selection. At the same time, sufficient budget may lead to waste money. In addition, carbon emission and total cost always change in the opposite trend when the budget changes. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
With the rise and spread of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), also called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, there is a global health emergency (SARS-CoV-2). Because of the epidemic of new coronavirus disease-2019, clinics and institutions' isolation facilities have generated a massive amount of clinical waste (COVID-19). The biggest contributors to waste volume are personal protective equipment, test strips, medical facemasks, and hand gloves. As garbage functions as a carrier for SARS-CoV-2, it could result in the exponential spread of this devastating disease. Furthermore, proper COVID-waste disposal is urgently required to reduce the risk of pandemic propagation and to ensure long-Term treatment of the disease environmental threats. In order to combat the lack of specialized antiviral therapy, it is critical to create new balance techniques and guarantee that existing ones are effective in the field. The objective of this study is to design and develop an intelligent Robot that can collect medical waste from COVID-19 isolation wards and then dispose it of in an environment friendly manner. Furthermore, the focus of this research is to use IoT-based robot technology to design sprinkling with UV devices for antiseptic-disinfection. This study may be useful to avoid and control the pandemic of compatible episodes in the future. © 2022 IEEE.