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Recyclers clean up the
emergency room
The volume of medical waste continues to grow as people live longer and have greater access to advanced medical
care. Recyclers are increasingly involved in cleaning up this potentially hazardous and infectious waste stream.
Saving lives is a messy business.
Countless syringes, gloves, masks, IV
tubes, medication packaging, test
tubes and sharps have to be disposed
of safely and efficiently. The global
medical waste recycling and waste
A U T H O R Kirstin Linnenkoper
Recycling medical waste is an industry worth EUR 6.7 billion worldwide.
management market was worth US$
7.2 billion (EUR 6.7 billion) in 2020,
according to Allied Market Research.
The most common methods to deal
with this waste stream are:
• incineration: widely used but facing
sustainability challenges
• autoclaving and steam sterilisation: a
growing eco-friendly alternative
• chemical and microwave treatment:
effective for hazardous/infectious
waste
• transforming medical waste into
renewable energy
PANDEMIC PEAK
The coronavirus pandemic raised the
stakes for healthcare providers every-
where, resulting in unprecedented
growth in waste generation. The World
Economic Forum says medical waste
was typically ten times higher at hospi-
tals and clinics at the height of the
virus. Prior to the lockdowns, recyclers
were not able to handle around 30% of
medical waste in emerging countries,
while lack of capacity affected 60% of
the waste stream in developed coun-
tries.
The total tonnage being processed at
the height of the outbreak was around
2.5 million tonnes per day. This includes
almost 88 000 tonnes of discarded per-
sonal protection equipment, millions of
test kits and vaccine packaging.
Volumes mostly stabilised by mid-2022.
‘Covid-19 has forced the world to reck-
on with the gaps and neglected
aspects of the waste stream and how
we produce, use and discard of our
health care resources, from cradle to
grave,’ comments Dr Maria Neira, the
World Health Organization’s director of
environment, climate change and
health.
WHO’s recommendations include:
• increasing reusable personal protec-
tion equipment
• boosting recyclable and recycled con-
tent in packaging
• investment in non-burn waste treat-
ment technologies such as autoclaves
• reverse logistics to support central-
ised treatment
• more funding for the recycling sector
NORTH AMERICA LEADS
Industry analysts estimate the medical
waste management market will see
‘strong momentum’ in the next few
years and is likely to hit US$ 12.8 billion
by 2030. Future growth will largely be
due to an expansion of hospitals and
private clinics (the beautification mar-
ket alone is worth US$ 15.5 billion a
year), innovative treatments and more
recycling players targeting medical
waste.
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