Biomedical Waste Management in the COVID-19 Era

Vivek Kumar Morya is a PhD-trained biotechnologist and translational researcher currently associated with Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, South Korea. He has 18 years of combined academic and industry experience, with contributions including more than 65 academic papers, 11 patents, 2 biomedical waste-management products, 28 microbial accessions, and 2 software tools related to surgery and orthopedic research. He also serves on the editorial boards of several SCI/SCIE-indexed journals. Raj Morya is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea. His skills and expertise include Biomaterials, Nanocomposites, Bioelectrochemistry, Nanomaterials, Immobilization, Polymers, Nanobiotechnology, Biofuels, Biodiesel Production, Lignin. Dr. Abhay Raj is currently as Principal Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow India. His R&D work focused mainly on development of microbial process for bioremediation of the industrial wastewaters mainly pulp and paper, tannery, and textile industries. His team had primarily engaged on screening and evaluation of bacterial strains for ligninolytic enzymes (LiP & Lac), basic mechanisms behind treatment and changes in the paper mill effluent toxicity after treatment. The developed bacterial consortium is being used to evaluate their feasibility for the treatment of pulp and paper mill effluent on bioreactor in an industrial set-up. Also, we are using bacterial biofilm approach to improve the tannery effluent treatment process. Abhay Raj is also working on development of an eco-friendly pulp bio-bleaching combination for application in paper industry. He is also working on the biochar technology for environmental remediation. Dr. Sunil Kumar is a well-rounded researcher with more than 20 years of experience in leading, supervising and undertaking research in the broader field of Environmental Engineering and Science with focus on Solid and Hazardous Waste Management. He has contributed extensively to these fields and has h-index of 30 and i10-index of 43 (Google scholar); highly impressive for a non-academic researcher from India. His contributions since inception at CSIR-NEERI in 200 include 130 refereed journal publications, 04 books and 25 book chapters, 08 Edited volumes and numerous project reports to various governmental and private, local and International academic /research bodies. The list of his collaborations is long and includes key Indian universities, such as IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Mumbai and prestigious regional institutes, such as Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Hong Baptist University as well as universities in US (Columbia, Texas A&M) and Europe (UN University and University of Uppsala).

• 1. The composition and characterization of COVID-19 biomedical waste: Potential risks of biomedical waste (human health, environment sustainability)2. Risk assessment and degree of resiliency of bio-medical waste management systems for pandemics like COVID-193. Change in Bio-medical Waste dynamics: an OECD perspectives4. Case study of COVID-19 waste management in different continents of the world5. Bio-medical waste burden and management strategies in Southeast Asian countries: Lessons learned from OECD countries6. Low, middle-income countries: environmental sustainability and impact with health implications7. The boom in production of protective gears (PPE kits, masks, gloves, shields, sanitizer etc.)8. Future of health care systems and sustainability in bio-medical waste management9. Science, technology, and innovation (STI) approach for sustainable waste management10. Application of automation and artificial intelligence in handling biomedical waste11. Legal and policy framework to cope with pandemics: success and failures12. Innovations and start-ups bloom during the pandemic to handle biomedical waste