Pyrolysis: An effective technique for degradation of COVID-19 medical wastes

Selvakumar Dharmaraj; Veeramuthu Ashokkumar; Rajesh Pandiyan; Heli Siti Halimatul Munawaroh; Kit Wayne Chew; Wei-Hsin Chen; Chawalit Ngamcharussrivichai

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130092

Pyrolysis: An effective technique for degradation of COVID-19 medical wastes

Chemosphere. 2021 Jul:275:130092. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130092. Epub 2021 Feb 23.

Authors

Selvakumar Dharmaraj¹, Veeramuthu Ashokkumar², Rajesh Pandiyan³, Heli Siti Halimatul Munawaroh⁴, Kit Wayne Chew⁵, Wei-Hsin Chen⁶, Chawalit Ngamcharussrivichai⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Marine Biotechnology, Academy of Maritime Education and Training [AMET] (Deemed to be University), Chennai, 603112, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Center of Excellence in Catalysis for Bioenergy and Renewable Chemicals (CBRC), Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: rvashok2008@gmail.com.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education (formerly Karpagam University), Pollachi Main Road, Eachanari Post, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
⁴ Chemistry Study Program, Department of Chemistry Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Science Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Dr. Setiabudhi 229, Bandung, 40154, Indonesia.
⁵ School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria, Bandar Sunsuria, 43900, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China.
⁶ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 701, Taiwan; Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung 407, Taiwan; Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung 411, Taiwan.
⁷ Center of Excellence in Catalysis for Bioenergy and Renewable Chemicals (CBRC), Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand; Center of Excellence on Petrochemical and Materials Technology (PETROMAT), Chulalongkorn University, Pathumwan, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: Chawalit.Ng@chula.ac.th.

Abstract

COVID-19 has led to the enormous rise of medical wastes throughout the world, and these have mainly been generated from hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare establishments. This creates an additional challenge in medical waste management, particularly in developing countries. Improper managing of medical waste may have serious public health issues and a significant impact on the environment. There are currently three disinfection technologies, namely incineration, chemical and physical processes, that are available to treat COVID-19 medical waste (CMW). This study focuses on thermochemical process, particularly pyrolysis process to treat the medical waste. Pyrolysis is a process that utilizes the thermal instability of organic components in medical waste to convert them into valuable products. Besides, the technique is environmentally friendly, more efficient and cost-effective, requires less landfill capacity, and causes lower pollution. The current pandemic situation generates a large amount of plastic medical wastes, which mainly consists of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and nylon. These plastic wastes can be converted into valuable energy products like oil, gas and char through pyrolysis process. This review provides detailed information about CMW handling, treatment, valuable product generation, and proper discharge into the open environment.

Keywords: COVID-19 medical waste; Disinfection techniques; Energy conversion; Medical waste management; Pyrolysis.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Humans
Incineration
Medical Waste*
Pyrolysis
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

Medical Waste