Too many masks: WHO cites glut of waste from COVID response
GENEVA — The World Health Organization says overuse of gloves and “moon suits” and the use of billions of masks and vaccination syringes to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus has created a huge glut of healthcare waste worldwide.
The United Nations health agency reported Tuesday that tens of thousands of tons of extra medical trash has strained waste management systems and is threatening health and the environment, pointing to a “dire need” to improve those systems and get a response from governments and citizens alike.
“Part of the message for the public is to become more of a conscious consumer,” said Dr. Margaret Montgomery, technical officer of the WHO’s water, sanitation, hygiene and health unit. “In terms of the volume, it’s enormous.
“We find that people are wearing excessive PPE,” Montgomery said, referring to personal protective equipment.
The agency says most of the roughly 87,000 tons of such equipment — including what she called “moon suits” and gloves — obtained from March 2020 to November 2021 to battle COVID-19 has ended up as waste. More than 8 billion doses of vaccine administered globally have produced 143 tons of extra waste in terms of syringes, needles and safety boxes.
“It is absolutely vital to provide health workers with the right” protective gear, Dr. Michael Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, said in a statement. “But it is also vital to ensure that it can be used safely without impacting on the surrounding environment.”
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In the statement, Dr. Anne Woolridge of the International Solid Waste Assn. said that “safe and rational use” of personal protective equipment would reduce environmental harm, save money, reduce possible supply shortages and help prevent infection “by changing behaviors.”
The WHO issued recommendations such as the use of “eco-friendly” packaging and shipping materials as well as reusable equipment and recyclable or biodegradable items.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said the excess waste potentially exposes health workers to “needle-stick injuries, burns, infection, and affects communities living near poorly managed landfills and waste disposal sites.”
The agency called for investment in “non-burn waste treatment” technologies. It reported that 30% of healthcare facilities worldwide — and 60% in the least developed countries — were already ill-equipped to handle existing waste loads, even before the pandemic caused them to balloon.
