Current State, Development and Future Directions of Medical Waste Valorization

Yin Ting Chu, Jianzhao Zhou, Yuan Wang, Yue Liu and Jingzheng Ren ()
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Yin Ting Chu: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
Jianzhao Zhou: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
Yuan Wang: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Yue Liu: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
Jingzheng Ren: Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-28

Abstract: Elevated medical waste has urged the improvement of sustainable medical waste treatments. A bibliometric analysis is initially conducted to investigate scientific development of medical waste management to pinpoint the publication trends, influential articles, journals and countries and study hotspots. Publications on medical waste and its management sharply increased since 2020. The most influential article was written by Klemeš et al., and “Waste Management and Research” is the most productive journal. India, China, the United Kingdom, Iran and Italy have published the most works. The research spotlights have switched from “human” and “sustainable development” in 2019 to “COVID-19” and “circular economy” in 2021. Since government acts essentially in handling medical waste and controlling disease transmission, rule implementations among the abovementioned countries are summarized to seek gaps between scientific advancement and regulatory frameworks. For accomplishing a circular economy, waste-to-energy technologies (incineration, gasification, pyrolysis, plasma-based treatments, carbonization, hydrogenation, liquefaction, biomethanation, fermentation and esterification) are comprehensively reviewed. Incineration, gasification, pyrolysis and carbonization are relatively feasible methods, their characteristics and limitations are further compared. By holistically reviewing current status of medical waste research, the focal points involved in management at the policy and technical level have been highlighted to find proper routes for medical waste valorization.

Keywords: medical waste; biomedical waste; clinical waste; healthcare waste; waste management; circular economy; waste-to-energy; thermochemical processes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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