The coronavirus crisis is changing a lot of things in our daily lives. We have been changing our routines and adopting new behaviours. Repeatedly washing our hands, maintaining social distancing when we go out and using masks, sanitising gel and gloves have become the iconic image of the COVID-19 crisis.

Now that it’s normal to use them and they are highly necessary to prevent contagion, disposing of them properly is very important to prevent them ending up on public thoroughfares or natural environments and becoming a source of contagion.

It is natural for doubts to appear in an extraordinary situation like the current one. Where should waste be disposed of? What about if I am looking after an infected person? Do I have to separate waste? Therefore, and to help with managing this waste in both urban settings and in houses or homeowners’ associations, we offer you a compilation of measures which, as a guide, comprises the instructions and recommendations given so far by health authorities.

Firstly, if we are outside the home, we must deposit this waste in organic waste bins or in public bins. And of course, never throw them away on public thoroughfares or in natural environments. Doing so not only compromises the environment, but is also a source of contagion. Moreover, if we throw these polluting elements onto the ground alongside the pollution, dirt, pets’ excrement, plastic bottles, cigarettes and any other solid waste that may be washed away by rain, they will inevitably end up in the sewers. And many of these solid objects that are washed away by rainwater accumulate at the bottom of storm tanks, complicating the cleaning systems used to remove them.

At home, good waste recycling requires separating both masks and gloves from the rest of the waste. Moreover, this waste must be managed in a specific way depending on the people generating it, especially if they are infected or in quarantine.

HOUSEHOLD WASTE MANAGEMENT IN HOUSEHOLDS WHERE NOBODY IS COVID-19 POSITIVE

To manage waste in homes where no one is infected with COVID-19 or in quarantine, used masks and gloves must be deposited in the general outside bin or the miscellaneous waste bin (orange), which is where we throw away all the waste that is not recycled. It is not necessary in this respect to take exceptional measures, such as those to be taken to manage the waste gloves and masks used by an ill person.

MANAGEMENT OF DOMESTIC WASTE IN HOUSEHOLDS WITH PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE VIRUS OR IN QUARANTINE 

In the case of people infected or in quarantine due to coronavirus, we must follow the measures in the protocol set out in the technical document on home management of COVID-19 published by the Ministry of Health.

According to the official document, there should be a rubbish bin in the room where they are staying, if possible, with a lid and pedal opening, where all disposable materials should be disposed of, in a hermetically-sealable bag, such as: tissues, gloves and masks, as well as any other patient waste, without separating anything for recycling. This bag (bag 1) must be hermetically sealed before being removed from the room.

Moreover, we must place another, similar rubbish bin next to the exit of the room of the patient or isolated person to dispose of plastic protections, goggles, gloves, masks...that have been used by the person or people looking after him/her (bag 2), where bag 1 must also be put before hermetically sealing it. This second rubbish bag, with the waste and disposable matter of both the patient and the carer, must be placed in a new rubbish bag (bag 3), which must be hermetically closed and sealed with insulating tape, if available, so it can be recognised.

Finally, this third bag must be deposited in the orange container (general rubbish or “waste” bag).
Under no circumstances must we deposit these bags in separate collection containers: organic, packaging, paper, glass or fabric. In particular, it is important to know that single-use masks and latex gloves or nitrile are not containers or bottles, so they must never be deposited in the yellow container.

ONLY TOILET PAPER CAN BE THROWN DOWN THE TOILET

Likewise, these protective elements must never be flushed down the toilet, since they could cause problems for the various elements of the sanitation systems, both in our homes and in municipal systems, which carry dirty water to the treatment plants for disinfection and for being returned to the environment in perfect condition.

To mention a final good habit at home, we must remember that wet wipes should also be thrown into the wastepaper basket or rubbish bin. If they are flushed down the toilet, they end up becoming entangled and cause enormous clogs in collectors, manholes or purifying plants.
But it’s not just a question of wet wipes. There is a lot more waste that ends up down the toilet, rather than in the wastepaper basket because of irresponsibility: plasters, sanitary towels, cotton balls, condoms and cotton buds are some examples. All of them eventually end up in landfills, which is where they should have gone directly, avoiding the unnecessary step of sanitation and purification facilities. 

The negative impact of this type of waste on urban water service infrastructure is a reality throughout Europe. In the Region of Madrid, removing wet wipes and waste of this type, which reaches treatment plants after being thrown down the toilet, costs us two million a year. Only three things should be flushed down the toilet: urine, faeces and toilet paper.