Recent advances and challenges in recycling and reusing biomedical materials.
- Authors
- Type
- Published Article
- Journal
- Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2022
- Volume
- 38
- Pages
- 100695–100695
- Identifiers
- DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100695
- PMID: 36277846
- Source
- Medline
- Keywords
- Language
- English
- License
- Unknown
Abstract
Medical waste has increased in the past 3 years as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This condition is expected to exacerbate due to the growing healthcare markets and aging population, posing health threats to the public via environmental footprints. To alleviate these impacts, there is an urgent need for medical waste management. This article highlights the drawbacks of current disposal methods and the potential of medical waste reuse and recycling, emphasizing the processes, materials, and chemistry involved in each practice. Further discussion is provided on the chemical and mechanical recycling of plastics as the dominating material in biomedical applications, and possible strategies and challenges in recycling and reusing biomedical materials are explored in this review. © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
