The shadow pandemic of single use personal protective equipment plastic waste: A blue print for suppression and eradication

Long D Nghiem; Hafiz M N Iqbal; Jakub Zdarta

doi:10.1016/j.cscee.2021.100125

The shadow pandemic of single use personal protective equipment plastic waste: A blue print for suppression and eradication

Case Stud Chem Environ Eng. 2021 Dec:4:100125. doi: 10.1016/j.cscee.2021.100125. Epub 2021 Aug 26.

Authors

Long D Nghiem¹, Hafiz M N Iqbal², Jakub Zdarta³

Affiliations

¹ University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, 2007, Australia.
² Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Monterrey, 64849, Mexico.
³ Faculty of Chemical Technology, Poznan University of Technology, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznan, Poland.

Abstract

Single use personal protective equipment (PPE) has played a major role in preventing COVID-19 infection. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 4 million tonnes of polypropylene PPE waste has been disposed into the environment in uncontrolled manner causing significant and long-term ecological damage. This work also highlights several effective measures to alleviate the problem of polypropylene PPE waste. Short-term measures include knowledge sharing to minimise the use of single use PPE and to adapt innovative polypropylene recycling technologies. To prepare for a future pandemic, it is also essential to phase out polypropylene PPE using natural based polymers.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disposable gown; Plastic waste; Polypropylene; Single use face mask.