A Review of Medical Waste Management Systems in the Republic of Korea for Hospital and Medical Waste Generated from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cheol-Woo Yoon, Min-Jung Kim, Yoon-Su Park, Tae-Wan Jeon and Min-Yong Lee
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Cheol-Woo Yoon: Department of Environmental Resources Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Korea
Min-Jung Kim: Department of Environmental Resources Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Korea
Yoon-Su Park: Department of Environmental Resources Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Korea
Tae-Wan Jeon: Department of Environmental Resources Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Korea
Min-Yong Lee: Department of Environmental Resources Research, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon 22689, Korea

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-25

Abstract: With the increasing generation of medical waste worldwide, managing medical waste has become crucial, given its potential environmental and public health risks. Previously in the Republic of Korea, medical waste was often mixed with municipal waste and disposed of in residential landfills or unsuitable treatment facilities (e.g., improperly managed incinerators). Environmental regulators and waste producers have made extensive efforts in recent years to improve waste management at healthcare facilities. This study presents an overview of the status of medical waste management in Korea and discusses information on the generation, composition, separation, transportation, and treatment of medical waste. Incineration was confirmed to be the most preferred treatment method for medical waste and was the only one used until late 2005. Large-scale medical waste incinerators are used for treating medical waste from most medical facilities in Korea; however, with increasing regulations on toxic air emissions (e.g., dioxins and furans), air emission standards are being tightened for all existing small-scale incineration facilities without air pollution control. Since medical waste usually contains various plastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride, these incinerators are highly likely to emit toxic air pollutants if improperly operated and managed. Waste minimization and recycling, control of toxic air emissions from medical waste incinerators, and alternative treatment methods to incineration are seen as major challenges. Incineration capacity cannot be expanded as quickly as the rising quantities of medical waste in Korea; thus, there is a growing need to reconsider the overall management system. Accordingly, we examined various medical waste treatment policies and methods that are being implemented in other countries, in addition to the main strategy of waste management. To determine preferable directions for the improvement of the medical waste management system, we investigated and compared the status of domestic and foreign waste management and proposed directions for improvement, focusing on several issues related to the current medical waste management system in Korea.

Keywords: medical waste; Republic of Korea; effective management; hospital/medical waste; COVID-19 pandemic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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