COVID-19 and industrial waste mitigation via thermochemical technologies towards a circular economy: A state-of-the-art review

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2022-02, Vol.423, p.127215-127215, Article 127215
• Main Authors: Felix, Charles B., Ubando, Aristotle T., Chen, Wei-Hsin, Goodarzi, Vahabodin, Ashokkumar, Veeramuthu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circular economy; COVID-19; Thermochemical; Torrefaction and pyrolysis; Waste mitigation; Waste-to-energy
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127215

The increasing awareness of waste circular economy has motivated valorization strategies for minimizing resource consumption and waste production in the private sector. With the rise of various industrial wastes and with the emergence of COVID-19 wastes, a sustainable approach is needed to mitigate the growing concern about wastes. Thermochemical treatment technologies in the form of direct combustion, torrefaction, pyrolysis, and gasification have been identified to have vital roles in the value-creation of various waste streams. Moreover, the alignment of thermochemical processes for waste mitigation concerning the circular economy framework needs to be established. Accordingly, a comprehensive review of the different thermochemical treatment options for industrial and the novel COVID-19 medical wastes streams is conducted in this study. This review focuses on highlighting the instrumental role of thermochemical conversion platforms in achieving a circular economy in the industrial sector. Various strategies in waste mitigation through various thermochemical processes such as management, recovery, reduction, and treatment are discussed. The results show that thermochemical technologies are beneficial in addressing the sustainability concerns on mitigating wastes from the industrial sector and wastes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This also includes the current issues faced as well as future perspectives of the thermochemical conversion technologies. [Display omitted] •Recent advances in waste mitigation and thermochemical treatment were reviewed.•Thermochemical process viability to COVID-19 and industrial waste were assessed.•Remarks on the circular economy were synthesized based on relevant literature works.•Waste-to-energy will be the main driving force for advancing thermochemical processes.•Thermochemical technologies are aligned to a circular economy in waste mitigation.