Recycling and Disposal of PPE During COVID-19

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Recycling and Disposal of PPE
Prepared by Dr K S Baghotia
Vice President, Indian society of Hospital Waste Management

COVID-19 Guidelines
• Recent guidelines issued by CPCB on 21st July 2020
• COVID-19 suspected / confirmed patients, Healthcare
Facilities, Quarantine Camps/ Quarantine-homes/
Home-care, Sample Collection Centers, Laboratories
• SPCBs/PCCs, ULBs and CBWTFs in addition to existing
practices under BMW Management Rules, 2016
• Purpose of Biomedical Waste Management is to protect:
– Human health and
– Environment
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Segregation
• As precaution double
layered bags (using 2
bags) should be used for
collection of waste from
COVID-19 isolation wards
so as to ensure adequate
strength and no-leaks;
• Thickness of these bags
prescribed under BMW
rules 2016 is 100 microns
• Keep separate colour
coded bins (with foot
operated lids) 2 /bags
/containers in wards

Biomedical Waste Segregation
Types of Containers
for Biomedical
Waste (Rule 2016)
in Schedule I

Covid 19 Centre Waste
• Hand over the yellow bags containing biomedical
waste to authorized waste collectors at door steps
engaged by local bodies; or
• Deposit biomedical waste in yellow bags at
designated deposition Centers established by ULBs.
• Handover the biomedical waste to waste collector
engaged by CBWTF operator at the doorstep.
• Persons operating Quarantine camps/centers or
Quarantine-homes/Home-care should report to ULBs
in case of any difficulty in getting the services for
disposal of solid waste or biomedical waste.

What are PPEs

Components of PPE

Persistence of Corona Virus
Different types of waste and
persistence of coronavirus
on its surface [Data were
taken from (Kampf et al.,
2020; van Doremalen et al.,
2020) and illustration of the
SARS-CoV-2 taken from
(CDC, 2020)]. .

During Shortage of PPE
• Recycle - Reuse - Reduce has been
the mantra for reducing plastics waste
accumulation in the environment.
• PPEs have to be dismantled before
they are exposed to chlorine, alcohol
or ethylene oxide vapours.
• Besides, since the chlorine and alcohol
solutions are mostly applied in the form
of a mist, the PPEs remain wet and
need an additional process of drying.

PPE kept for drying after disinfection
(Source: www.battelle.org)

Disposal of used PPEs
• Waste masks and gloves in general households should be kept
in paper bag for a minimum of 72 hours, cut & dispose as dry
general solid waste.
• Discarded PPEs from general public at commercial
establishments, shopping malls, institutions, offices, etc. should
be stored in separate bin for 3 days, and disposed after
cutting/shredding.
• At Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), discarded PPEs
containing plastic should be shredded and sent to SPCB
authorised plastic waste recyclers, or energy recovery
converted into refuse derived fuel (RDF) for (in Waste to
Energy Plants) or for road making.
• Shredded PPEs may be disposed at landfill only in case the
requisite infrastructure as required under SWM Rules is not
available in the State.

Disposal of used PPEs contd.
PPEs doffed by healthcare workers accompanying diseased
body of COVID-19 patient to crematorium / graveyards should
be treated as biomedical waste and disposed as per provisions
under SWM Rules, 2016 and BMW Management Rules, 2016.
Crematoriums/graveyards may opt for disposal of such PPEs is
given below;
• Should be collected in separate bin with yellow-bag and
handed over to authorized waste picker engaged by of ULBs
for disposal through CBWTFs. Or
• Dispose as domestic hazardous waste (biomedical waste)
and may be deposited at designated deposition centers
identified by ULBs for pick-up by CBWTFs. Or

Disposal of used PPEs contd.
• May ask healthcare staff to take-back the PPEs after
collecting it in red and yellow bags/bins provided in the
hospital ambulance itself. Or
• May ask the healthcare workers to doff the PPEs at the
hospital or healthcare unit from where they collected the
corpse.
• Used masks from visitors to crematorium/ graveyards including
crematorium staff should be collected in separate bins and
stored for 72 hours prior to disposal as dry general solid waste
through local bodies.

Improper Disposal of PPE

Waste increased due to Corona
• Ever since the news of human-to-human
transmission of corona virus hit the world media,
there was a sudden surge in demand for masks,
gloves, hand sanitizers, and other essential
commodities.
• The WHO modelling estimated a requirement of
89 million medical masks for the COVID-19
response each month and 76 million
examination gloves, while international demand
for goggles stands at 1.6 million per month
(WHO, 2020c).
• Wuhan China (in public Domain):
– Usual daily Medical waste generation = 50 Tons
– Daily Medical waste during Corona = 240 Tons

CBWTF in India
Covid Bio Waste Treatment Facilities

BMW Treatment facilities in India
• As per CPCB report 2018 a total of 200 CBWTFs are operational in India.
CBWTF under construction are 28.
• Other Captive Incinerators used by Healthcare Institutions are 120.
• The healthcare facilities having onsite treatment facilities are 12326.
• There are 2,70,416 no. of Health Care Facilities (HCFs)
out of which 97,382 no. of HCFs are bedded
and 1,73,831 no. of HCFs are non-bedded.
• The total generation of bio-medical waste is about 614 tonnes per day
out of which about 534 tonnes per day are treated in CBWTFs and
captive treatment facilities.

Effect of Covid19 on Environment
Science of the Total
Environment 728
(2020) 138813

Indirect Effect of Covid on Environment
Positive indirect effects of COVID-19 on the environment are:
1. Clean beaches: The lack of tourists, as a result of the social
distancingmeasures due to the new coronavirus pandemic,
has caused a notable change in the appearance of many
beaches in the world. For example, beaches like those of
Acapulco (Mexico), Barcelona (Spain), or Salinas (Ecuador)
now look cleaner and with crystal clear waters.
2. Reduction of environmental noise level: The imposition of
quarantine measures by most governments has caused
people to stay at home. With this, the use of private and
publictransportation has decreased significantly. Also,
commercial activities have stopped almost entirely. All
these changes have caused the noise level to drop
considerably in most cities in the world.

Positive Effects of Covid on Environment
3. Decreased concentrations of NO2 and PM 2.5: the
Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) of
the European Union observed a drop of PM 2.5 last
February in relation to the previous three years.
According to CAMS (2020), a drop of approximately
20–30% of PM 2.5 is observed in large parts of China,
when comparing the difference between the monthly
average for February 2020 and the mean of the
monthly averages for February 2017, 2018, and 2019. No2 Effect on China

No2 Concentration in Europe

Negative Effects on Environment
Increased waste:
• Medical waste is also on the rise. Hospitals in Wuhan produced an
average of 240 metric tons of medical waste per day during the
outbreak, compared to their previous average of fewer than 50
tons.
• In other countries such as the USA, there has been an increase in
garbage from personal protective equipment such as masks and
gloves (Calma, 2020).
Reduced recycling:
• Waste recycling has always been a major environmental problem
of interest to all countries (Liu et al., 2020). Recycling is a common
and effective way to prevent pollution, save energy, and
conserve natural resources (Varotto and Spagnolli, 2017; Ma et
al., 2019).
• As a result of the pandemic, countries such as the USA have
stopped recycling programs in some of their cities.

Other Effects on Environment
Excess of Chlorine:
• China has asked wastewater treatment plants to strengthen their
disinfection routines (mainly through increased use of chlorine) to
prevent the new corona virus from spreading through the
wastewater.
• However, there is no evidence on the survival of the SARS-CoV2
virus in drinking water or wastewater (WHO, 2020b).
• On the contrary, the excess of chlorine in the water could
generate harmful effects on people's health (Koivusalo and
Vartiainen, 1997).

Thank You!

Recycling and Disposal of PPE During COVID-19

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