Outside In | As masks and gowns choke our landfills, it’s time to reckon with PPE makers
- Most pandemic waste comes from hospitals and clinics, from masks and gowns to test kits and vaccine phials
- Is it too much to ask that pharmaceutical companies and PPE makers use some of their windfall profits to tackle the environmental damage?
While most of us see daily evidence of this in the masks that fill waste bins, or litter our streets, parks and walking trails, the great majority of pandemic waste comes from hospitals and medical clinics, and comprises not just masks, but gowns, gloves, vaccine phials and needles, test kits and biohazard bags – and the packaging they come in.
A UN Development Programme study of five Asian cities showed that hazardous health care waste has jumped 10-fold. A report from Premier Inc, the health care group that supports around 4,400 hospitals across the US, said hospitals nationwide have spent more than US$3 billion on personal protective equipment (PPE) in the pandemic, with costs per patient jumping from US$7 in 2019 to US$20.40 at the peak, falling back to around US$12.45 now.
One doctor’s report from a British hospital, quoted by the WHO, provides a sobering glimpse: “We see on average 10 patients a day; this means 10 sets of PPE consisting of apron, FFP3 mask, visor and gloves. Masks come in a box of 10, so you already dispose of a box every day. In the box, each mask is wrapped individually in plastic.
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Indonesia’s Covid-19 medical waste swamps country’s rubbish mountains
“The aprons come in a box of 15, but again, each of these aprons is individually wrapped. My visor is wrapped individually in plastic too, with a film over the front, which again is waste. Some visors have film on both sides.” The summary per week? Around 90 boxes, 250 pieces of plastic wrapping, and over 50 pairs of gloves – for one doctor.