WHO says large quantities of covid medical waste are a threat to health

The agency said used medical equipment such as needles posed a health hazard, while the increase in plastic waste was straining waste management systems.

The materials being discarded include protective clothing, syringes, gloves, face masks and test kits. The agency’s 71-page report found that most of the 1.5 billion medical items distributed by the UN in the first months of the pandemic ended up as rubbish, equivalent to the weight of 262,000 jumbo jets.

Disposable gloves contributed to more waste than any other item procured through the UN’s system, the report said. In one study cited by the report, it was estimated that 3.4 billion single-use masks were discarded every day in 2020 around the world.

The first eight billion Covid vaccines administered globally generated 144,000 tonnes of waste in the form of syringes and needles, which can cause injuries to health workers if they are disposed of carelessly.