Medical waste inventory and evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in Tekirdag

Establishing a medical waste system that can provide capacity and resistance in the future and in case of need in urban medical waste management can only be possible with the right inventory and tracking system. In this context, the change in the amount of medical waste collected from all health institutions within the borders of Tekirdağ province and sent to the medical waste sterilization facility during the January 2018-March 2021 period was determined according to the time, health institution type and waste codes. According to the results obtained, 959,071 kg of waste were collected in 2018, 937,929 kg in 2019, 1,272,478 kg in 2020 and 354,378 kg in the first three months of 2021. Generally, the highest amount of waste is collected in December-January. The percentage of waste collected from public hospitals in total medical waste was 68% in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively; 69%; 74% and 76%. Considering the distribution of the collected wastes according to the waste codes, 180103 "hazardous wastes whose collection and disposal are subject to special procedures in order to prevent infection" constitutes 98.6% of all wastes on average. According to the calculation results, the amount of medical waste generated per person in the province is 0.89-1.28 kg/person-year and the amount of medical waste generated per bed varied between 1.06-1.35 kg/person-bed. The amount of medical waste per capita has increased over the years and has reached high amounts especially during the Covid-19 pandemic process. In the province of Tekirdag, population projections and medical waste estimates have been made for the future, and according to the calculation results, an increase of about 50% is expected in the amount of medical waste in the province in 2050. Within the scope of the study, the average monthly waste amount in Tekirdağ was calculated as 111,039 kg between 01 April 2020 and 31 March 2021, covering the pandemic process, in order to evaluate the amount of medical waste in the province during the Covid-19 process. The amount of medical waste collected and sterilized in the province during the process is approximately 3.7 tons / day during the specified period. As a result of the calculations, it was determined that a total of 1,960 tons/year extra waste load was realized in the province between April 01, 2020 and March 31, 2021, and 43% of this was due to the use of masks, 39% to isolated patients and 18% to Covid-19 treatment in hospitals.