Table 1.
PESTEL dimensions to sustainable HCWM during COVID-19 outbreak.
| PESTEL dimensions | Factors | Description | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| POL (Political) | Separate regulatory framework for HCWM during COVID-19 outbreak (POL 1) | Regulatory framework will define the separate procedures and policies for handling the infectious wastes. | WHO (2020), Zorpas (2020) |
| PPP model for handling HCW during COVID-19 outbreak (POL 2) | PPP model will help in setting up a quick response HCWM system and infrastructure in the COVID-19 hospitals. | Experts’ contribution | |
| Financial subsidies to HCW handlers (POL 3) | During the outbreak emergency period, the Government may think of special financial policies to promote the waste handling industry. | Rothan and Byrareddy (2020), Mkude and Wimmer (2015) | |
| Policies on promoting R&D in HCWM (POL 4) | Government should come up with more R&D schemes to promote research in the HCWM filed during the COVID-19 outbreak for developing a sustainable and safer environment. | Zorpas (2020), Rothan and Byrareddy (2020) | |
| ECO (Economical) | Government investment policies during COVID-19 outbreak (ECO 1) | Government should intervene with the new investment policies separately for urban and rural areas. | Caniato et al. (2015), Bennett (2013), |
| Relaxed tax structure during disease outbreaks (ECO 2) | Relaxed tax structure will help the HCW handlers to set up new facilities and import the latest technologies to treat the infectious wastes with minimum carbon prints. | Mkude and Wimmer (2015), Podein and Hernke (2010) | |
| HCW treatment costs (ECO 3) | Setting up the common bio-medical waste treatment facility for all the hospitals in a particular radius will help in achieving the economies of scale. | Caniato et al. (2015), Thakur and Ramesh (2016) | |
| SOC (Social) | Community displacements and disturbances during COVID-19 outbreak (SOC 1) | COVID-19 outbreak has forced many people to leave their working place due to shut down and come back to their villages, which has lead to the spread of coronavirus in rural areas also. | Sun et al. (2020), Calma (2020), Song et al. (2017) |
| Social awareness about infectious HCW (SOC 2) | Social awareness will encourage infected people to keep their contaminated wastes separate from the regular ones. | WHO (2020), Calma (2020), Windfeld and Brooks (2015) | |
| Compensation for the local community (SOC 3) | The continuous pollution emissions from the waste treatment facilities, should be compensated with some CSR activities for the local community. | Experts’ contribution | |
| TEC (Technological) | Latest incineration technology to treat infectious HCW (TEC 1) | Advanced incineration technologies will help in reducing the carbon footprints and also the left-outs contaminants will be very less. | Thakur and Ramesh (2016), Caniato et al. (2015) |
| Tracking based supply chain (collection, storage and transportation) of HCW (TEC 2) | Deploying the tracking system in the bags carrying COVID-19 infected wastes, will ensure the proper records maintaining and safe handling of HCW till the final disposal. | Wang et al. (2020), Caniato et al. (2015) | |
| Regular sanitization of the contact points (TEC 3) | Regular sanitization of the workplace will stop the spread of the infection to the local community. | Experts’ contribution | |
| ENV (Environmental) | Modified environmental policy for fighting against COVID-19 outbreak (ENV 1) | Modified environmental guidelines issued for the wastes treatment facilities and COVID-19 hospitals, will ensure sustainable environmental development. | Ferronato and Torretta (2019), Rao et al. (2011) |
| Effluents and emissions control at treatment sites (ENV 2) | Byproducts coming out of the treatment facilities should be addressed properly by safe dumping after chemical disinfection. | Kanmani and Gandhimathi (2013), Minh et al. (2003) | |
| LEG (Legal) | Developing legal policy for COVID-19 hospitals (LEG 1) | Legislation framework should be developed on the working of all the establishments dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. | Wang et al. (2020), Yu et al. (2020) |
| Compliance of environmental laws (LEG 2) | Meeting the environmental obligations while fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak will ensure the sustainable HCWM system. | WHO (2020) |