Table 1.

A framework of impacts, challenges, and future outlook perspectives to tackle the issue of the waste generated from face masks, PPE kits, and medical wastes.

Type of waste	Impact	Challenges	Future outlook/treatment	References
Single-use face masks and PPE kits	Protect against COVID-19, but lead to excessive disposal	• Change in waste composition • Microplastic pollution • Increase in the spread of COVID-19 in the environment	• Recycling of face masks • More emphasis on circular economy • Research and development on treatment processes	Teymourian et al. (2021)
Plastic packaging	Panic buying results in overuse of single-use plastic bags and food packaging	• Huge amount of waste compared to that of pre-pandemic situation • Improper disposal of solid waste	• Follow guidelines based on reduce, reuse, recycle, and recover • Treatment processes such as pyrolysis and incineration • Chemical disinfection	Akinola et al. (2014)
Medical waste	Excessive use of medical care products and vaccine units results in medical waste	• Increased possibility of infection and/or infected waste in the environment • Change in waste composition and amount	• Chemical disinfection • More studies on circular economy • Proper waste management • Follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO)	Dharmaraj et al. (2021)