Households’ Waste Scenario during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Outlook from Bangladesh
Mou Rani Sarker *
College of Economics and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Philippines.
Md. Abdur Rouf Sarkar
Agricultural Economics Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur-1701, Bangladesh.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
With pandemic progression and the stay-at-home situation, household are producing more dangerous medical waste. Households became the most vulnerable and unprotected sector of coronavirus transmission due to the unconsciousness and lack of guidance of hazardous waste management. Therefore, waste management is a critical concern to public health. This study examines household waste generation and waste management issues in Bangladesh during COVID-19 from March 2020 to August 2021. The study showed that adequate identification, collection, transportation, processing, separation, and disposal are the challenges of safe waste management. Each activity bears a high risk of getting infected because of lack of proper guidance and protection. Moreover, the improper disposal of hazardous waste causes immense soil, water and air pollution that might have negative effects to the human body. Some suggested guidelines to a better COVID-19 household’s waste management are discussed in the context of Bangladesh.
Keywords: Household transmission, coronavirus, hazardous waste, waste management, health risk