University of Trento, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, Via Mesiano 77, 38123 Trento, Italy.
University of Insubria, Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Via G.B. Vico, 46, 21100 Varese, Italy.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Nov 25;745:141159. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141159. Epub 2020 Jul 22.
The literature on municipal solid waste in relation to COVID-19 is scarce. Based on the experience of Italy, the present article contributes to the strategies aimed at preventing a second virus outbreak. In fact, the mismanagement of municipal solid waste could undermine the strategies during the ease of the lockdown. During the SARS-COV-2 outbreak in Italy, there was a general decrease in the selective collection rate (-15% in one municipality with a well-developed door-to-door collection system). Delays in the publication of guidelines on waste management impacted on the safety of the operators collecting potentially infected waste. Contrarily to expectations, single-use masks and gloves do not have significant impact on waste management, accounting for <1% of the residual municipal solid waste collected annually. However, the dispersion of abandoned masks and gloves outside indoor environments is creating environmental problems. Recommendations on waste management and the protection of waste operators are discussed. Finally, guidelines on the most appropriate waste treatment are presented and analyzed. The results presented in this article show that the MSW management sector has found useful solutions to tackle COVID-19; however, these solutions are not being shared sufficiently. The case study analyzed in the present work could help define strategies for preventing or controlling similar future epidemics or pandemic episodes.
关于 COVID-19 的城市固体废物文献很少。基于意大利的经验，本文为旨在预防第二次病毒爆发的策略做出了贡献。事实上，城市固体废物处理不当可能会破坏封锁放松期间的策略。在意大利 SARS-COV-2 爆发期间，选择性收集率普遍下降（在一个具有完善上门收集系统的城市下降了 15%）。废物管理指南发布延迟影响了收集潜在感染废物的操作人员的安全。与预期相反，一次性口罩和手套对废物管理没有重大影响，每年收集的残余城市固体废物中仅占<1%。然而，废弃口罩和手套在室内环境外的散布正在造成环境问题。讨论了关于废物管理和废物操作人员保护的建议。最后，提出并分析了最适当的废物处理指南。本文介绍的结果表明，城市固体废物管理部门已经找到了应对 COVID-19 的有用解决方案；然而，这些解决方案并没有得到充分的分享。本工作中分析的案例研究可以帮助确定预防或控制类似未来传染病或大流行爆发的策略。
