Environmentally Sustainable Management of Used Personal Protective Equipment
Environmentally Sustainable Management of Used Personal Protective Equipment
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DOI：
10.1021/acs.est.0c03022
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发表时间：
2020-07-21
影响因子：
11.4
通讯作者：
Ogunseitan, Oladele A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Singh, Narendra;Tang, Yuanyuan;Ogunseitan, Oladele A.
口罩、手套、护目镜、长袍和围裙等个人防护装备 (PPE) 是帮助保护个人免受病原体和污染物侵害的重要物品。传统上，针对病原体的个人防护装备主要在医院环境中使用。然而，COVID-19全球大流行使得个人防护装备现在必须在国内广泛使用，导致供应链短缺，以及国内固体废物流中潜在传染性个人防护装备的快速积累。 1 为应对疫情，国内对个人防护装备的前所未有的需求也影响了依赖个人防护装备的其他行业，包括制造业、建筑业、石油和天然气能源、交通运输、消防和食品生产。自 COVID-19 爆发以来，塑料 PPE 设备的产量迅速增加。例如，2016年至2020年间，全球个人防护用品市场的复合年增长率为6.5%，从约400亿美元增至580亿美元。 2 相比之下，世界卫生组织预测，个人防护装备供应量必须每月增加 40%，才能有效应对 COVID-19 大流行。基本的个人防护装备包括估计 8900 万个医用口罩、7600 万副医用手套和 160 万副护目镜。 3 预计大流行后时期个人防护用品的需求也不会大幅下降，预计 2020 年至 2025 年面部和外科口罩供应量的复合年增长率为 20%。2 个人防护用品的可持续管理是一项关键挑战。缺乏协调一致的国际战略来管理个人防护装备生产和废物生命周期，可能会影响实现联合国可持续发展目标 (SDG) 关键组成部分的进展，包括可持续发展目标 3 良好健康和福祉、可持续发展目标 6 清洁水和卫生设施、可持续发展目标 8 体面工作和经济增长、可持续发展目标 12 负责任的消费和生产以及可持续发展目标 13 气候行动。 4 我们提出的产品生命周期策略应集成到基于公私合作伙伴关系的解决方案中。个人防护装备制造和分销的增加导致废物流相应增加，而废物管理链上的健康和环境风险则加剧了这种情况，特别是在基础设施欠发达的国家。武汉疫情高峰期，中国每天产生约240吨医疗垃圾，是疫情爆发前的六倍（图1）。因此，当地废物管理机构在该市部署了移动焚烧炉，以处理数量空前的废弃口罩、手套和其他受污染的一次性防护装备。 1 全球范围内废弃口罩、手套和护目镜的数量也出现了类似的增加。例如，超过700万香港居民每天佩戴一次性口罩。有报道称，海洋、香港海滩和自然步道上有废弃口罩。 5 大流行影响了固体废物管理活动的开展方式。废物管理和资源回收部门不被视为基本服务，因此被封锁。这种对常规废物管理服务的破坏在世界范围内都有记录，而中国早先于 2019 年对“可回收”固体废物进口实施的限制进一步加剧了这种情况。作为回应，一些国家已经开始采取临时程序收集和回收用过的个人防护装备，这种做法可能会
Personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gloves, goggles, gowns, and aprons are essential items to help protect individuals from exposure to pathogens and contaminants. Traditionally, PPE use against pathogens was predominantly in the hospital environment. However, the COVID-19 global pandemic necessitated that PPE is now widely used in domestic situations, leading to shortages in the supply chain, and a rapid accumulation of potentially infectious PPE in domestic solid waste streams. 1 The unprecedented domestic demand for PPE in response to the pandemic has also impacted other industries reliant on PPE, including manufacturing, construction, oil and gas energy, transportation, firefighting, and food production. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, increased production of plastic-based PPE equipment has been rapid. For example, between 2016 and 2020, the compound annual rate of increase in the global market for PPE was 6.5%, from approximately $40 Billion to $58 Billion. 2 In contrast, the World Health Organization projected that PPE supplies must increase by 40% monthly to deal effectively the COVID-19 pandemic. The essential PPE includes an estimated 89 million medical masks, 76 million pairs of medical gloves, and 1.6 million pairs of goggles. 3 The demand for PPE is not expected to decline substantially during the postpandemic period either, with an estimated compound annual growth of 20% in facial and surgical masks supply from 2020 to 2025. 2 The sustainable management of PPE is a key challenge. The lack of a coordinated international strategy to manage the PPE production and waste lifecycle threatens to impact progress toward achieving key components of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 good health and wellbeing, SDG 6 clean water and sanitation, SDG 8 decent work and economic growth, SDG 12 responsible consumption and production and SDG 13 climate action. 4 We propose product lifecycle strategies that should be integrated into solutions based on public-private partnerships. The increase in PPE manufacture and distribution is generating an equivalent increase in the waste stream, compounded by health and environmental risks along the waste management chain, especially in countries with an underdeveloped infrastructure. China produced approximately 240 tons of medical waste daily at the peak of pandemic in Wuhan, amounting to six times higher than before the disease outbreak (Figure 1). Therefore, the local waste management agency deployed mobile incinerators in the city to dispose of the unprecedented quantities of discarded face masks, gloves, and other contaminated single-use protective gear. 1 Similar increases in discarded face masks, hand gloves, and protective goggles have been observed worldwide. For example, more than 7 million residents of Hong Kong wear single-use masks daily. There are published reports of discarded masks in the ocean and on Hong Kong’s beaches and nature trails. 5 The pandemic has impacted how solid-waste management activities are performed. The waste management and resource recycling sectors were not regarded as essential services and were placed under lock down. This disruption of routine waste management services has been documented worldwide, further exacerbated by China’s earlier restrictions imposed in 2019 on the importation of “recyclable” solid waste. In response, impromptu procedures for collection and recycling of used PPE has been underway in some countries, a practice that may