Mapping healthcare waste management research: Past evolution, current challenges, and future perspectives towards a circular economy transition

Ranjbari M 1 , Shams Esfandabadi Z 2 , Shevchenko T 3 , Chassagnon-Haned N 4 , Peng W 5 , Tabatabaei M 6 Show all authors , Aghbashlo M 7

Affiliations 

  • 1 Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis", University of Turin, Turin, Italy; ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France
  • 2 Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy; Energy Center Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
  • 3 Scientific Department, Sumy National Agrarian University, Sumy, Ukraine
  • 4 ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France
  • 5 Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China. Electronic address: pengwanxi@163.com
  • 6 Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030 Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Biofuel Research Team (BRTeam), Terengganu, Malaysia; Microbial Biotechnology Department, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Agricultural Research, Extension, And Education Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
  • 7 Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; Department of Mechanical Engineering of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. Electronic address: maghbashlo@ut.ac.ir
J Hazard Mater, 2022 01 15;422:126724.
PMID: 34399217 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126724

Abstract

Improper healthcare waste (HCW) management poses significant risks to the environment, human health, and socio-economic sustainability due to the infectious and hazardous nature of HCW. This research aims at rendering a comprehensive landscape of the body of research on HCW management by (i) mapping the scientific development of HCW research, (ii) identifying the prominent HCW research themes and trends, and (iii) providing a research agenda for HCW management towards a circular economy (CE) transition and sustainable environment. The analysis revealed four dominant HCW research themes: (1) HCW minimization, sustainable management, and policy-making; (2) HCW incineration and its associated environmental impacts; (3) hazardous HCW management practices; and (4) HCW handling and occupational safety and training. The results showed that the healthcare industry, despite its potential to contribute to the CE transition, has been overlooked in the CE discourse due to the single-use mindset of the healthcare industry in the wake of the infectious, toxic, and hazardous nature of HCW streams. The findings shed light on the HCW management domain by uncovering the current status of HCW research, highlighting the existing gaps and challenges, and providing potential avenues for further research towards a CE transition in the healthcare industry and HCW management.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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