COVID-19 WASTE MANAGEMENT FACTSHEET
These factsheets follow Resolution 8 on Sound management of chemicals and waste and Resolution 7on Environmentally sound management of waste of the Fourth United Nations Environment Assembly.

1Introduction to COVID-19waste management

NO UNCONTROLLED DUMPING,NO OPEN BURNING
Protect the environment and our health

For more information visit unep.org or contact Kevin Helps (Head, GEF Unit, Chemicals and Health Branch, UNEP) kevin.helps@un.org“Our response is to support Member States in addressing immediate challenges from themedical emergency, such as strengthening waste management systems.”
Inger Andersen, UNEP Director

The problem

In response to COVID-19, hospitals,
healthcare facilities and individuals
are producing more waste than usual,including masks, gloves, gowns andother protective equipment that could be
infected with the virus. There is also alarge increase in the amount of single use
plastics being produced.

When not managed soundly, infected
medical waste could be subject touncontrolled dumping, leading to publichealth risks, and to open burning oruncontrolled incineration, leading to therelease of toxins in the environment andto secondary transmission of diseases
to humans. Other wastes can reachwater sources and add to riverine andmarine pollution.

These practices do not respect WHO
guidelines on treatment of infectious andsharp waste from health care facilities,
nor the requirements of the Basel,
Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions
protecting human health and theenvironment from hazardous chemicals
and wastes!

The challenge
Wherever possible, countries should control COVID-19 waste through maximizing theuse of available waste management solutions and, at the same time, look to avoid any
potential long-term impacts on the environment. To do so, they need to:1

Manage increased waste
production by maximizing theuse of existing facilities;

2

Ensure the operations follow theemissions requirements and so
avoid secondary health impacts;

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3

In the absence of appropriatetechnology, consider adopting the3S methodology and installationof temporary/stop gap solutions.

UNEP’s response
UNEP is working in collaboration with Governments, WHO, UNDP, the GEF and NGOs to mitigate the adverse impacts on global environment
from the increase of waste produced in response to the crisis, through controlling releases of harmful chemicals in the atmosphere, landand water.

Short term response
Inventory: 		Governments produce an assessment of
their national waste management capacity
to optimize their utilization and adopt
stop-gap solutions during COVID-19.
The action will prevent both the spread ofcontamination and the increase in litterreaching the marine environment.

3S methodology: 		Sorting, Segregation, and Storage.
COVID-19 waste is separated fromgeneral medical waste volumes at point ofgeneration. Waste is then stored to assess
waste volumes and allow the developmentof an appropriate response/stop-gap
solution.

SAICM: 		

UNEP will work with countries to study
the impacts of disinfectant and cleaning
solutions used to control COVID-19 spreadon the wider environment, with linkage to
the SAICM emerging policy issues.

"If households and businesses massively
stop with separating recyclables, theoverall waste system will be saddledwith between 30 and 50% more materials
and will risk a system failure."(ISWA, 2020)

Long term response
Legislation: 		Guidance on policy and legislation will
help countries to have a stable legal andinstitutional basis to better respond to afuture waste management emergency andto clarify measures to be taken

Circular economy: 		The pandemic will increase the production
and consumption of personal andmedical equipment, often single-use andcontaining resources like plastics, cotton,
metals and electronics components.
UNEP will help countries to maximize thecircularity of the medical sector and tobetter manage single use products.		
Air quality andtransport:

Household &		medical waste
management
strategies:

COVID-19 will increase the consumptionof personal care and single-use
products, especially in countries
with overwhelmed or few healthcare
facilities. Countries will require morerobust systems for waste segregation,collection and management, andindividuals will need guidance on how
to safely dispose of the used medicalequipment.  

SAT, BAT, and BEP		

Sustainability Assessment ofTechnologies (SAT) methodology will
help decision makers to choose the Best
Available Technology (BAT) for source
segregation and primary disposal, andfor destruction of waste or recovery ofmaterials. This way, Best Environmental
Practices (BEP) can be used and sharedat the national level. Future impacts fromsimilar challenges can be managed in amore environmentally sound manner, inline with the Stockholm Convention.

Air quality has an impact on humanand environmental health. Countries ina post COVID-19 recovery phase could
manage the levels of air pollution not onlywith waste management solutions andemission control, but also with options forelectric mobility and transport.

Areas of study – future evidence
Infrastructure and Capacity - Build Back Better:
Due to low investment in core infrastructure, developing countries
don’t have access to modem technology to treat mixed
contaminated medical waste. COVID-19 should be a warningthat more basic infrastructure and capacity, in line with therequirements of the relevant Multilateral EnvironmentalAgreements, is urgently needed.

Fragile states and disasters/conflict scenarios:
Here, stop-gap solutions, such as locally manufactured
incinerators, paired with the 3S methodology may be considered
to meet short-term needs to treat COVID-19 waste and prevent
onward transmission. To ensure the solutions are not used
for inappropriate purposes and don’t have an impact on theenvironment, they should be temporary and immediately
decommissioned once the COVID-19 emergency is suppressed.

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