Environmental impact assessment of industrial protective equipment waste: a systematic review of the post-pandemic art
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Introduction: In the world during the pandemic caused by COVID 19, about 8.4 and 9.2 million tons of plastic waste were generated, which include mostly industrial protective equipment (PPE), which were used by the entire world population to curb the level of Coronavirus contagion. However, much of this waste ended up as debris in rivers, oceans or incinerated, which has contributed to a negative environmental impact, which is the source of climate change, increased greenhouse effect, marine pollution, and the death of hundreds of species. Objective: To conduct a systematic review of the environmental impact assessments of post-pandemic industrial protective equipment waste. Results: The different investigations clearly show the inadequate management of solid waste that exists at a general level, in terms of carbon footprint and energy footprint of the waste from protective equipment the impact on the environment is imminently negative, in addition it could be demonstrated that the release of micro plastics (MP) and microfibers (MF) from discarded PPE becomes an emerging threat to environmental sustainability. Discussion: The research developed around the problem generated by solid waste from personal protective equipment (PPE) is the support to show the bad waste management around the world, especially in underdeveloped countries, but even more important is the need to implement social awareness programs and on the other hand to generate environmental policies to mitigate post-pandemic contamination. Conclusion: It was concluded that the research conducted established considerable negative impacts on the environment, among which is the generation of solid waste from PPE that continues to generate pollution in waterways and in the atmosphere.
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