# Dental Solid Waste Analysis: A Scoping Review and Research Model Proposal
## 6 Discussion
(2009) [27], which was excluded from our analysis too due to using a different classification of medical waste, reported that 24.3%, 48.1%, and 27.6% of waste was non-infectious, infectious, and domestic waste, respectively. Moreover, data of [PERSON] et al. (2019) [23] indicate that, in terms of hazardous waste, unit production rate was 48.7 \(\times\) 1.3 g/patient/day (mean and standard error). Thus, according to their evaluation, the DSW production rates were 53.3 \(\times\) 1.4 g/patient/d and 381 \(\times\) 15 g/practice/d [24], which is a considerable amount of waste to discuss when addressing sustainability issues in dentistry. This heterogeneity of the extracted data from relevant studies discussing the issue is due to the absence of a repeatable method of identifying dental solid waste among researchers or dentists participating in each study. The difficulty of properly managing wastes is primarily related to separate infectious and potentially infectious waste types. The study by [PERSON] et al. (2012) [19] concluded that healthcare centers lack effective practices on waste minimization, separation, reuse, and recycling as well as inadequate practices on disposing of sharps, potentially infectious waste, and other hazardous waste. Consequently, it seems necessary to evolve educational strategies concerning waste separation issues. As healthcare workers, dentists and dental auxiliary staff should learn to assess the hazardous and infectious status of dental solid waste by understanding its possible role in cross-infection and follow specific protocols for waste accumulation and disposal [7]. According to WHO standards, waste types cover a wide range of materials, including infectious wastes, pathological wastes, sharps wastes, chemical wastes, pharmaceutical wastes, cytotoxic wastes, radioactive wastes, and nonhazardous/general wastes. In accordance with WHO and CE regulations, all healthcare facilities are required to dispose of waste appropriately [5; 28; 29; 30] to diminish the carbon footprint. Studying the carbon footprint in the NHS, 17 dental procedures were identified, emitting 1798.9 tonnes of CO\({}_{2}\) equivalent annually. Travel was the largest contributor (45.1%), followed by procurement (35.9%) and building energy (18.3%). Moreover, waste disposal accounted for 0.22% of NHS dental services' overall carbon footprint, with 90.3% of emissions derived from domestic waste [31]. To achieve the goal of reduced carbon footprint, dental care facilities should currently develop a formal waste management plan. As part of this plan, everyone involved in the generation, handling, and treatment of waste should have access to combined knowledge and decision making. Aside from training and familiarizing dentists and dental staff with the proper disposal of dental waste, raising patient awareness is also an essential step in this direction. By educating patients about the green dental economy and reducing the environmental footprint, dentistry will be able to achieve the fulfillment of sustainability criteria in healthcare [11; 32]. In addition some ideas for sustainable waste management from other areas of the industry, like the food industry, could be incorporated in the management of dental solid waste [33]. For example, the dental industry and research should explore methods for converting dental waste into energy sources, similar to the biofuel production discussed elsewhere [34]. This could involve techniques such as anaerobic digestion or pyrolysis to convert organic dental waste into biogas or bio-oil. We could also investigate opportunities to recover materials from dental waste for reuse or recycling. For example, metals from dental amalgam waste could be reclaimed and repurposed, similar to the recovery of materials from food waste for the production of materials [33]. Moreover, we can implement composting techniques for organic dental waste materials such as dental pulp or food waste from staff areas.