What Happens to All That PPE?

What Happens to All That PPE?

We’ve been wearing a lot of PPE during the past year. Whether going to the store to buy groceries or visiting with our loved ones, face coverings help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease that causes COVID-19. But what about the Personal Protective Equipment, used by medical professionals who are on the front lines of the current health emergency? What happens to all that single-use PPE?  

Disposable masks, gloves, shields and gowns worn by health workers in the U.S. is usually thrown out with the regular trash and then sent to the landfill. Even during an average year, that amounts to a lot of trash. Waste handlers in the U.S. even before 2020 were processing a billion tons of medical waste a year. Here in the United States, we actually saw a reduction of medical waste last year due to cancellation of the elective surgeries and a reduction in non-COVID hospitalizations. For other countries, particularly in China and Europe, medical waste has risen significantly. 

As a society, we send a lot of trash to our landfills. The average person in the U.S. creates about 5 pounds of trash each day, or 1,871 pounds each year. This waste is sent to one of the over 2,000 landfills in this country. The waste handlers who service our health care institutions send plenty of trash to the landfill as well. Even during non-pandemic year, medical waste handlers were processing a billion tons of regulated medical waste a year. More disposable medical material is coming. Think of all the millions of syringes, needles and vials necessary for the vaccination of hundreds of million people in the U.S.

So as most of us get ready to have our arms stuck and receive a dose of vaccine, be thankful that it was a gift of science, but remember too the impact of all that PPE.

Sources: Yahoo News, Medical Waste Industry Braces for Flood of Virus-Contaminated Trash, March 30, 2020, Wall Street Journal, Trash Industry Braces for Potential Deluge of Coronavirus Waste, March 30, 2020, Stericycle.com, May 20, 2020, Business Insider, The US government grossly underestimated how much trash we throw in landfills, September 21, 2015. The Hidden Risks of Medical Waste and the COVID-19 Pandemic, Waste 360.com