Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on municipal solid waste management: Challenges and opportunities
Autor
Kulkarni, Bhargavi N.
Anantharama, V.
Institución
Resumen
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused global emergency and has raised social and economic concerns which will
also spill over to environmental issues. Amid this natural experiment, current study evaluates prevailing municipal solid waste (MSW) management practices, with the emphasis on MSW treatment and disposal facilities in
select developed and developing countries. The data and information used in this paper is collected from several
scientific research papers from different disciplines, publications from governments and multilateral agencies
and media reports. Despite limited literature on MSW management during such pandemics, this article presets
a global backdrop of MSW management during COVID-19 outbreak and examines various aspects of MSW management. Discussion includes identifying parameters of disease transmission through solid waste handling, consequences of medical waste surge on current municipal waste treatment and disposal systems. Further, based on
previous pandemic and disaster waste management studies, this study also presents challenges and opportunities in the aftermath of the ongoing pandemic. The paper recommends alternatives approaches for MSW treatment and disposal and outlines the future scope of work to achieve sustainable waste management during and
aftermath of the pandemics.