Examining Geospatial PPE Waste Patterns and Associations with Neighborhood-level Sociodemographic Indicators and Social Capital in Boston Neighborhoods during Fall 2022

Gloria M. Schmitz

No d2k5s, OSF Preprints from Center for Open Science

Abstract: Personal protective equipment (PPE) litter plagued the urban environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on data from 15 neighborhoods in the Boston, Massachusetts, United States, including primary geocoded PPE waste data, and socioeconomic and social capital data from secondary datasets, this study used hot spots-cold spots analysis and bivariate Spearman correlations to examine spatial patterns, and associations between PPE waste and key variables. The results showed that neighborhoods with lower social capital and lower median household income had higher amounts of PPE litter overall and per 100,000 residents. Areas with more high-tech waste bins had less PPE litter, whereas PPE litter tended to cluster around major hospital and medical facility locations. These findings can help inform urban and regional policymakers about where to place smart Wi-Fi-enabled waste receptacles, ways to target public information campaigns aimed at enhancing urban waste-reduction dynamics, and how to optimize waste collection using geospatial metrics.

Date: 2024-08-20
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:d2k5s

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/d2k5s

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