A deluge of medical waste is swamping the globe, a U.N. report says.

Discarded syringes, old test kits and used vaccine vials have strained waste management systems and are threatening people’s health and the environment.

 Humans created an extra 8 million tons of plastic waste during the pandemic

Medical waste, PPE, and online shopping are driving a surge in ocean pollution.

 Medical waste: the dark side of healthcare

Hospitals and other health facilities generate an ever-increasing amount of waste, approximately 15% of which may be infectious, toxic, or radioactive. The World Health Organization has been addressing the issue since the 1980s.

 The hidden harm of health care: air, water, and other pollution

To most people, the health care system is synonymous with healing. But it is also a major source of health-damaging pollution.

 Tons of COVID Medical Garbage Threaten Health

Burning piles of used gloves, test kits and syringes release toxic pollutants. But there are ways to improve medical recycling.

 Why Healthcare Waste Is A Major Problem In The United States

According to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research, an estimated $765 billion worth of medical supplies are wasted every year in the United States. This includes everything from unused medications to unneeded medical procedures.

 ‘If I were a hospital, I’d be reading the tea leaves’: Pressures grow on the health care industry to reduce its climate pollution

Flooding, heat waves, wildfires, and other climate-driven weather extremes in recent years have catapulted hospitals into emergency mode and devastated the communities they serve, with Hurricane Ian’s deadly rampage through central Florida only the most recent example. But while hospitals might seem to be the unwitting victims of climate disasters, the U.S. health care system — and hospitals in particular — shoulder a good deal of the blame.

About 26,000 tonnes of plastic Covid waste pollutes world’s oceans – study

The mismanaged plastic waste, consisting of personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves, vastly exceeded the capability of countries to process it properly, researchers said.

Covid-19 has led to a pandemic of plastic pollution

As the world produces more protective equipment—and gorges on takeaways—pity the oceans.

Doctors pledge to do no harm. The entire health care sector should do the same by battling climate change

Globally, the health care sector emits 4.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the U.S., this sector — hospitals, health systems, doctors’ offices, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and others — is responsible for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Health care has a huge environmental footprint, which then harms health. This is a matter of ethics

As part of broader economic systems, the health-care sector can inadvertently harm health through purchased resources, and the waste and pollution produced. In other words, it can unwittingly harm health in efforts to protect and improve it.

Hospitals Go 'Green' To Cut Toxins, Improve Patient Environment

Hospitals play a pivotal role in protecting America's health. But they may also have a surprising unhealthy side -- inadvertently contributing to illness and pollution by exposing patients and staff to a witch's brew of toxins from building materials, medical waste, hospital supplies and cleaning products.

Hospitals try to curb astronomical emissions as pandemic brings new challenges

The healthcare climate footprint is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 514 coal-fired plants but health workers are finding ways to cut waste.

Medical Waste Is Piling Up, Generating New Concerns

The volume of medical waste and the costs of disposing of it have grown steadily over the past decade or more, fueled in part by the growth of single-use disposable items and in part by the growth of small clinics and home care services, whose combined waste already rivals that of big hospitals. Infectious waste, the most troublesome component of medical waste, has become an environmental pariah.

The Amount Of Plastic Waste Is Surging Because Of The Coronavirus Pandemic

You’ve probably heard or read or noticed that ever since the COVID-19 shutdown, the air and water all around the planet has gotten cleaner. Yes, nature is rebounding around the world. But you also need to remember that a lot of the personal protective equipment, the masks and gloves and other medical equipment, is plastic, and much of it is being thrown carelessly away. When PPE gets discarded in public areas, it ends up clogging sidewalk drains and washing into waterways.

The Covid Crisis Is Now a Garbage Crisis, Too

Overblown fears that the coronavirus could be transmitted through surfaces have created a stigma around handling nonhazardous trash, experts say. Some recyclable waste has been junked or burned.

The looming waste crisis that will follow COVID-19 vaccinations

As countries race to vaccinate their populations, the amount of hazardous, clinical waste they produce will rise. In places where formal waste collection systems are generally poor, experts warn of a looming crisis.

The PPE used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is getting tangled up in wildlife

We conducted a global survey using social media accounts of wildlife interactions with PPE debris. The images are jarring: A hedgehog wrapped in a face mask, the earloops tangled in its quills. A tiny bat, with the earloops of two masks wrapped around its wing. A nest, full of ivory white eggs, insulated with downy feathers and a cloth mask.

Wasting Syndrome

How much trash do hospitals produce? Firm, up-to-date numbers on hospital waste are hard to come by, but the short answer seems to be: A lot. One widely cited statistic holds that the nation’s hospitals generate 6,600 tons of waste daily, but that figure comes from a survey that’s more than 20 years old. Two million tons a year (or about 5,500 tons a day) is another estimate that pops up frequently. But that number dates back to at least the late 1990s, and the Lantern couldn’t track down its original source.