The WHO Global analysis of healthcare waste in the context of COVID-19: status, impacts and recommendations bases its estimates on the approximately 87,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE) that was procured between March 2020- November 2021 and shipped to support countries’ urgent COVID-19 response needs through a joint UN emergency initiative. Most of this equipment is expected to have ended up as waste.

The authors note that this just provides an initial indication of the scale of the COVID-19 waste problem. It does not take into account any of the COVID-19 commodities procured outside of the initiative, nor waste generated by the public like disposable medical masks.

ISSL’s Dr. Anne Woolridge, Chief Operating Officer, contributed to the report in her role as Chair of the ISWA Working Group on Healthcare Waste.

The WHO publication can be accessed here: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240039612

There is also a feature story on the WHO website which can be found here: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/fortune-favours-the-prepared-fixing-the-covid-19-waste-problem-to-build-back-better-and-tackle-climate-change