COVID-19, Waste, and Environmental Equity

Dear Colleagues,

There are many concerning unknowns regarding how COVID-19 is affecting medical, hazardous, and municipal waste streams. We do not yet know how an anticipated increase in medical waste may impact communities living near landfills and incinerators. We also do not know the full scale of potential occupational hazards. While some types of waste may have declined or held steady globally, there are many research and policy questions related to personal protective gear, testing materials, agriculture, wastewater, and single-use plastic. Local and systemic analyses are needed to understand the environmental implications of COVID-19-related waste and potential strategies for protecting public health.

Further, COVID-19 adds yet another layer to a long-term public health issue that has never been addressed nationally—the inequitable siting of waste. Countless studies have documented disproportionate environmental health risks affecting Black and Brown communities, Indigenous communities, and low-income people across a wide variety of specific contaminants and multi-contaminant sources (e.g., industrial, petroleum, and chemical facilities, freight transport, waste). Some public health experts also anticipate that we may be entering a “pandemic age”, which suggests these intersecting issues of infectious disease, waste, and environmental justice will remain and reoccur without policy intervention and oversight.

Papers addressing these topics are invited to this Special Issue, especially those that highlight community-led or equitable community-academic research intended to understand and address environmental racism. Qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as health impact assessments or policy research are all welcomed.

All papers should clearly discuss implications for policy to ensure health equity.

Dr. Natalie Sampson
Ms. Crystal Dixon
Ms. Michele Okoh
Ms. Denise Patel
Mr. Omega Wilson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• COVID-19
• waste
• wastewater
• medical waste
• hazardous waste
• agricultural waste
• environmental justice