Identifying methods and challenges of waste management in natural disasters

Natural disasters, depending on their severity, can generate vast amounts of waste. Without proper waste management, these disasters can result in environmental pollution, epidemics of infectious diseases, and reduced resilience and recovery. Although natural disasters are beyond human control, the extent of their impact is often influenced by the effectiveness of governmental and administrative responses. This study aims to identify methods of waste management in disaster scenarios and highlight the existing challenges. This study is designed in three phases to assess the current situation in the world in terms of the amount of natural disasters, waste management in disasters, and investigating the consequences of waste management in disasters. The study analyzes approximately 18,000 raw data points and 223 articles spanning from 1900 to 2023. The results indicate that Asia has experienced the highest number of natural disasters, while Oceania has experienced the lowest. The highest incidence rate, economic burden, mortality, and waste generation are related to hydrological, meteorological, biological, and geophysical disasters, respectively. Although biological disasters occur less frequently, they are not confined to specific locations and impact a larger population. While developed countries like Japan and the USA have valuable experience in disaster waste management, comprehensive waste management programs remain lacking in developing countries. This study emphasizes the need for public education, development of standardized national protocols, infrastructure development, increased interdisciplinary research, improve inter-organizational coordination, improved international relations, optimized equipment, supporting of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the use of emerging technologies to estimate waste production before disasters.