4 Tips for Safe Trash Removal During COVID-19

 The controlling of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on commercial activities, mobility, and manufacturing sector have impacted junk removal in California drastically. Trash removal for waste management holds the key for human development and health outcomes, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

 

The crucial service provided by the waste management sector with the help of the junk removal companies ensures that the unfamiliar piles of waste that pose health hazards and increase the spread of COVID-19 are avoided. Through this write-up, we endeavor to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trash management while observing lockdown and social distancing measures. These are valuable tips for safe trash removal during the pandemic. 

 

1. Communication Between Waste Adaptation & COVID-19 Pandemic 

 

The beginning of the pandemic led to establishing distancing measures that caused panic purchasing of the basic amenities such as food, face masks, gloves, toilet papers, sanitizers, and cleaning products. During this phase, shopping for basic protective equipment, products, and groceries grew by more than 20%. This panic hoarding increased the disposal of perishable products and leftovers, which caused tons of waste. The lockdown period has been reported to have increased the use of plastics, which is a dangerous situation and has an environmental cost. So, you must refrain from the increased use of plastics during the lockdown.  

 

No face masks should pile up at nature trails and beaches due to improper disposal in waterways, disrupting the marine environment. Because of low oil prices and demand, the competitiveness of recycled plastics has declined, gradually affecting the price of virgin plastics. A temporary ban on international movements affects developing countries depending on overseas technology for waste recycling. So, maximum waste generated during the pandemic must be disposed of instead of being recycled. 

 

2. Medical Waste Assessment 

 

Because of the novelty of the pandemic, modifications to the prevailing waste facilities to regulate the unusual medical waste and its associated viral spread effect necessitates a sound knowledge on the hot spots for waste generation, the amount of medical waste generated, and existing treatment facilities. Due to the increasing volumes of medical waste, a lot of technical knowledge regarding sorting, segregation, transport, storage, and sustainable waste management technologies are needed for optimizing the existing infrastructures for catering to the emergency. The various forms of medical waste and its derivatives include pathological waste, non-hazardous waste, infectious waste, radioactive waste, chemical waste, sharps waste, cytotoxic waste, and pharmaceutical waste. Due to the unprecedented surge in daily waste construction of waste plants and deployment of mobile waste treatment facilities becomes mandatory and the administration has to do it. 

 

3. Non-medical and Household Waste 

 

We have already mentioned a sudden hike in production and consumption patterns of non-medical and household-related products like foodstuffs, gloves, masks, thermometers, sanitizers and cleaning products, and toilet papers. Immediate lockdown and scare of the virus compelled everyone to panic buying. The unusual use of masks to minimize the exposure to the infection has increased its production, gradually increasing the global sales by US$166 billion. Because of the present role of protective equipment like disposable gloves and masks, the pandemic seems to have thwarted attempts to decline plastic pollution. For containing the spread of the virus, the World Health Organization projects a monthly global expenditure of 76 million plastic-based examination masks, 1.6 million plastic-based protective goggles, and 89 million plastic-based medical masks. So, we need to focus on the production and consumption of plastic-based masks. 

 

4. Policy Response and Implication 

 

The administration can contemplate indulging in funding ring-fenced to tackle the level of illegal dumping attributed to the pandemic. Waste pickers whose livelihood is dependent mostly on waste collection could no longer benefit and perform business-as-usual, because of the stringent social distancing measures. Waste pickers play a crucial role to achieve a circular economy. 

 

We can do what the members of the EU did to recycle waste between 70–80% while minimizing GHG emissions due to toxic waste disposal and incineration methods. The zero-waste approach ensures the conservation of all resources by responsible production, consumption, reuse, and recovery of products, packaging, and materials. You need not have to burn anything and don’t have to discharge to land, water, or air that may harm the environment or humans. The post-crisis provides suggestions that waste management before the pandemic cannot continue as business as usual but necessitates structural adjustments, thus focusing attention on the significance of transitioning from the linear to the circular economy. Rather, this method will help to attain zero-waste and zero-carbon-based economic growth that has minimal waste management expenditure.  

 

Conclusion 

 

Aren’t you a responsible citizen? of course, you are! Then it is expected from you that you follow the protocols related to physical distancing so that you don’t end up harming anyone, be it the representatives conducting junk removal services in California or other fellow citizens who all come in close contact with them.