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 Vaccinating the entire population of the United States for example,
would require so many needles they would stretch around the earth
1.8 times, according to California-based OnSite Waste Technologies.
Experts warn medical waste firms risk becoming overwhelmed by the
sheer volume of debris and many environmentalists are demanding more
sustainable solutions as the vaccine rollout accelerates.
In central Portugal, in a large warehouse with a burning hot
incinerator, workers sort through bins marked 'hazardous waste'
arriving by the truckload from vaccination centres.
"The number of people getting shots will increase substantially...
This means we have to step up our response," said Adelino Mendes,
manager of Ambimpombal waste firm.
The facility houses one of only two medical waste incinerators in
Portugal.
So far, Portugal has managed to handle the trash from its vaccine
programme but capacity constraints are a structural problem
everywhere, according to Carlos Filho, head of the Rotterdam-based
International Solid Waste Association (ISWA).
"An unexpected pandemic showed that the world did not have the
necessary infrastructure to cope with an increase in waste," he
said.
Over the last year, refuse firms have had to handle soaring amounts
of trash - from medical masks to food delivery boxes.
France's Suez, one of the world's largest waste management firms,
said the volume of medical trash it processed at its plant in the
Netherlands tripled last year from 2019.
Stericycle, which operates in countries like the United States and
Britain, said it saw an "unprecedented" increase.
'A TICKING TIME BOMB'
Clinical waste is also being generated in non-medical settings where
vaccination centres have been set up: sports stadiums, parking lots
and concert halls.
The way that waste is disposed of varies from country to country. In
some, it is collected, disinfected and sent to sanitary landfills.
Portugal opts for incineration.
[to top of second column] |
 There is also much room for
innovation. U.S. firm OnSite Waste Technologies
has created a desktop-size device that can melt
syringes and needles and turn them into a small
brick of non-infectious trash.
In low-income countries however, where refuse collection is less
regulated, medical waste often ends up in open-air dumps or
unregulated burn pits, posing a risk to public health and the
environment.
"It is a ticking time bomb that will have a terrible impact on
people's health," Filho said, adding there were around 11,500 dumps
in Latin America and the Caribbean alone. "We cannot accept that
waste from vaccination is sent to unsuitable places."
Trash pickers in countries such as India often look for syringes and
needles in open-air dumps and resell them on the black market,
studies have shown.
Concerns about the end destination of vaccine waste have also
emerged in Europe, where Europol said last November it investigated
some companies for poor handling of COVID-19 waste.
Spain's Guardia Civil police said a firm operating in Spain and
Portugal kept infectious waste in cardboard boxes, leaving trash to
deteriorate and become scattered on public roads.
Some see the pandemic as an opportunity to make waste management
better and greener, which would also require vaccine waste to be
more easily disposed off.
A study published last month in The Journal of Climate Change and
Health said vaccination could be made more "eco-friendly" by using
materials for vials and syringes which are easier to recycle.
"There is a need to develop sustainable and recyclable products for
a better tomorrow," it said.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Andrei Khalip and
Alexandra Hudson)
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