This is the second edition of the WHO handbook on the safe, sustainable and affordable management of health-care waste--commonly known as "the Blue Book". The original Blue Book was a comprehensive publication used widely in health-care centers and government agencies to assist in the adoption of national guidance. It also provided support to committed medical directors and managers to make improvements and presented practical information on waste-management techniques for medical staff and waste workers. It has been more than ten years since the first edition of the Blue Book. During the intervening period, the requirements on generators of health-care wastes have evolved and new methods have become available. Consequently, WHO recognized that it was an appropriate time to update the original text. The purpose of the second edition is to expand and update the practical information in the original Blue Book. The new Blue Book is designed to continue to be a source of impartial health-care information and guidance on safe waste-management practices. The editors' intention has been to keep the best of the original publication and supplement it with the latest relevant information. The audience for the Blue Book has expanded. Initially, the publication was intended for those directly involved in the creation and handling of health-care wastes: medical staff, health-care facility directors, ancillary health workers, infection-control officers and waste workers. This is no longer the situation. A wider range of people and organizations now have an active interest in the safe management of health-care wastes: regulators, policy-makers, development organizations, voluntary groups, environmental bodies, environmental health practitioners, advisers, researchers and students. They should also find the new Blue Book of benefit to their activities. Chapters 2 and 3 explain the various types of waste produced from health-care facilities, their typical characteristics and the hazards these wastes pose to patients, staff and the general environment. Chapters 4 and 5 introduce the guiding regulatory principles for developing local or national approaches to tackling health-care waste management and transposing these into practical plans for regions and individual health-care facilities. Specific methods and technologies are described for waste minimization, segregation and treatment of health-care wastes in Chapters 6, 7 and 8. These chapters introduce the basic features of each technology and the operational and environmental characteristics required to be achieved, followed by information on the potential advantages and disadvantages of each system. To reflect concerns about the difficulties of handling health-care wastewaters, Chapter 9 is an expanded chapter with new guidance on the various sources of wastewater and wastewater treatment options for places not connected to central sewerage systems. Further chapters address issues on economics (Chapter 10), occupational safety (Chapter 11), hygiene and infection control (Chapter 12), and staff training and public awareness (Chapter 13). A wider range of information has been incorporated into this edition of the Blue Book, with the addition of two new chapters on health-care waste management in emergencies (Chapter 14) and an overview of the emerging issues of pandemics, drug-resistant pathogens, climate change and technology advances in medical techniques that will have to be accommodated by health-care waste systems in the future (Chapter 15).

This book deals with the general principles, policy instruments, sustainability of supply chain, and business of health-care waste (HCW) management including inputs on exercise in immune health defense against COVID 19. Health-care waste management is very important in any country for protection of environmental and animal and human health. The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition, has augmented this importance to a greater extent. Italy has been successful in curbing the problems related to HCW management during the COVID-19 pandemic at very fast rates from the worst situation, while for a few countries in Asia and Africa, challenges still exist. It is necessary that policy makers, researchers, and implementers gain more knowledge and information on these aspects and improve the strategies and actions. Addressing these issues will reduce the cost of health care as well as resource inefficiency hindering sustainable development goals. This book is of interest and useful to practitioners, capacity builders and policy makers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, and general people, and is a valuable source of reference to the relevant researchers and students in global markets. The book serves as a reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of environmental science, waste management, and medical science. National and international scientists as well as policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

This book covers the sustainability issues of a green environment towards economics and society in terms of alteration in industrial pollution levels, effect of reduced carbon emissions, changes in water bodies characteristics with respect to heavy metal contamination, monitoring of associated impact with respect to ecology and biodiversity, impact of reduced noise levels and air quality influences on human health, handling and management of biomedical waste. According to WHO, 80% of people living in urban areas are exposed to air exceeding safe limits. The advent of "sustainability‟ in development science has led planners to apply evolving notions of "sustainability‟ to the contemporary debate over how cities and regions should be revitalized, redeveloped, and reformed. Market allocation of resources, sustained levels of growth and consumption, an assumption that natural resources are unlimited and a belief that economic growth will „trickle down‟ to the poor have been its hallmarks. The recent advance technology helps to promote green and clean modern societies continuously. The Internet of things will be playing an important role in the upcoming years in environment protection and sustainable development. There is a focus on paradigm shift in the sustainable development for the green environment during the period of isolation of COVID-19. This is the moment for the mobilization against the climate crisis. The sudden fall in pollutants and subsequent blue skies signifies a dramatic shift for India and also other affected countries during this period. Fighting climate change requires a collaborative approach between all spheres of society unlike the former. It must heavily redirect resources towards local, sustainable activities, including education, health, sustainable agriculture and circular management of resources. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in the dramatic change in the different aspects of the environment. The global lockdown has led to a rejuvenation of nature, ecosystems, biodiversity. Even urban environments are discovering a degree of peace and serenity, which led to decrease in greenhouse gas emission.

Acknowledgements -- Sri Lanka -- Statistics, policy and regulatory aspects in managing healthcare waste under COIVID-19 -- Foreword -- Summary -- Current practices of healthcare waste management -- Introduction -- Kenya -- Abbreviations -- Indonesia -- References -- Conclusion and lessons learnt.

This book highlights the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable waste management and air emission, using various case studies. The year 2020 was a historical year mainly due to the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and it influenced or affected the global economy, business models and the industrial sectors, thus impacting sustainability in various ways. Given that sustainability has many faces and facets, it is worthwhile to deal with the relation (or impact) of COVID-19 on various elements of sustainability. This book presents how COVID-19 has influenced waste management and air quality.

As global waste generation increases at a rapid rate, there is a dire need for waste management practices such as collection, disposal, and recycling to protect from environmental pollution. However, developing countries generate two to three times more waste, resort to open dumps more often than developed countries, and are slower to integrate waste management standards. There is a need for studies that examine the waste generation and practices of countries that share similar economic backgrounds as they strive to implement successful waste management techniques. Sustainable Waste Management Challenges in Developing Countries is an essential reference source that discusses the challenges and strategies of waste management practices and the unique waste issues faced by developing countries that prevent them from achieving the goal of integrated waste management. While highlighting topics including e-waste, transboundary movement, and consumption patterns, this book is ideally designed for policymakers, legislators, waste company managers, environmentalists, students, academicians, and municipal planners seeking current research on the global waste management problem.