Countries worldwide are struggling to develop strategies and infrastructure for appropriate disposal of the increasing medical waste generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines the available knowledge and current practices in medical/healthcare waste management worldwide, particularly in countries with transitional economies, including the dependence of medical waste generation rate on various socioeconomic and environmental parameters. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of medical and healthcare waste management practices in 78 countries. We identified impediments and challenges facing the integration of medical waste management into a prospective circular economy according to statistical correlations with human development index (HDI), life expectancy (LE), healthcare expenditure (HE) per capita of gross domestic product (GDP), and environmental performance index (EPI). The results highlight the importance of knowledge and awareness of best practices for infection and injury prevention for waste management among workers. An average of 38.9% of medical waste was segregated for proper management, and only 41% of workers were trained in-service for medical waste disposal. Plastic materials constituted approximately 35% of medical waste, presenting an opportunity for sustainable resource recovery and recycling. It is imperative for all countries to adopt environmentally sustainable management of medical waste to prevent catastrophic stockpiling of infectious waste during and after pandemics. Additionally, we present an outline for future studies on medical waste generation rate and various socioeconomic and environmental parameters that should be investigated in future work to promulgate an inventory of the database for sustainable management of medical/healthcare waste.

Electronic waste (e-waste), the world’s fastest-growing category of hazardous solid waste, poses a serious health risk for recyclers, scavenger workers, and residents of communities near waste disposal sites in many countries with developing economies and those in transition. The toxic components of e-waste have been linked to various adverse health outcomes. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of e-waste exposures on pregnancy outcomes and neonate’s health. We systematically searched original full-length articles in three electronic databases namely Web of Science, ProQuest health and medical databases, and Google Scholar for publications related to e-waste and pregnancy outcomes and neonate’s health. Outcomes from most study showed possible association between exposure to e-waste and pregnancy and adverse neonatal health outcomes including sex-specific differences in infants’ growth, placental transfer of toxicants, thyroid hormones disruption, DNA methylation and oxidative damage, ALAD genotypes, carcinogenic risks, and sex hormones disruption in pregnant women and developing fetus. The results support evidence that e-waste exposure is associated with negative effects on pregnancy and neonatal health outcomes. However, improvements in the design of epidemiological investigations, and more investigations from South Asia, Africa, and Latin America are needed to confirm these associations.

The upward trend of global demand for fossil-fuel energy for non-energy purposes especially for the production of plastics, and non-renewable energy use (NREU) and global warming potential of the plastics life cycle is poorly understood. Alternatives to petrochemical plastics have been researched intensely, but they have not been developed to replace current plastic products at a commercially viable scale. Here, we identify challenges facing to energy intensiveness of plastic production, land use crisis for biomass production, and non-renewable energy use and global warming potential on the life cycle of plastics, and we propose a material lifecycle perspective for bioplastics. Our estimate shows that an average of about 13.8 exajoule (EJ), ranging from 10.9 to 16.7 EJ, of fossil-fuel energy consumed in 2019 was diverted to fossil-fuel feedstock for the production of plastics worldwide, this translates between 2.8 and 4.1% share of the total consumed fossil-fuel energy globally. The life cycle analysis estimate shows that bioplastics produced from 2nd generation feedstock have 25% less NREU than that of 1st generation, while the bioplastics from 1st generation feedstock required about 86% less NREU than that of petrochemical plastics. Similarly, the estimates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions show that the reduction of GHG emission was about 187% more in biomass feedstock than that of petrochemical plastics. We conclude by presenting strategies for improving the recyclability of biological plastics through polymer design, application biotechnology, and by adopting a circular bio-based economy.

Mobile phones and various electronic products contribute to the world's fastest-growing category of hazardous waste with international repercussions. We investigated the trends in potential human health impacts and ecotoxicity of waste mobile phones through quantitative life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) methods and regulatory total threshold limit concentrations. A market-dominant sample of waste basic phones and smartphones manufactured between 2001 and 2015, were analyzed for toxicity trends based on 19 chemicals. The results of the LCIA (using USEtox model) show an increase in the relative mass of toxic materials over the 15-year period. We found no significant changes in the use of toxic components in basic phones, whereas smartphones contained a statistically significant increase in the content of toxic materials from 2006 to 2015. Nickel contributed the largest risk for carcinogens in mobile phones, but the contributions of lead and beryllium were also notable. Silver, zinc and copper contents were associated with non-cancer health risks. Copper components at 45,818-77,938 PAF m³/kg dominated ecotoxicity risks in mobile phones. Overall, these results highlight the increasing importance of monitoring trends in materials use for electronic product manufacturing and electronic-waste management processes that should prevent human and environmental exposures to toxic components.