Weathering the Essential: A Look Inside the COVID-19 Impact on the Waste and Recycling Industry

EREF received nearly 400 responses. As can be seen in Figure 1, waste haulers were the predominant respondent, representing more than a fifth of all responses.

The following five sectors represented three-quarters of the respondents in this survey (Figure 1):

While all sectors included in this survey reported being impacted by the pandemic (Figure 2), academic institutions were among the most impacted, which, given that most of them shut down for the spring semester, is not surprising. While some academic research is able to continue remotely, many of the laboratory experiments may be set back, delaying research results indefinitely. Government agencies and waste haulers rounded out the top three with around 90 percent of respondents in these sectors indicating impacts.

In the next three to nine months, staffing is anticipated to account for the greatest short-term impact, followed by supplies and changes in contracts. As for the long-term impacts (i.e., those extending to 2021 and beyond), staffing issues and supplies are expected to be of continued concern, and renewal of contracts are expected to account for 25 percent of company concern. This mirrors increasing commentary and economic forecasts that suggest the longer it takes to deal with the pandemic, the longer it will take for the economy to recover. 

One-fifth (20.8 percent) of respondents indicated that employees had not expressed concerns related to their health at work. Of those who did, employees were most concerned about exposure to the virus while working. This includes exposure from contagious employees, interactions with vendors and an inability to remain socially distant.

The top five concerns expressed by employees were (Figure 3):(Note that the below are concerns of possible issues, not verified issues.)

While municipal employees were more vocal about their concerns about the coronavirus, one-third of waste haulers who responded to the survey received concerns from employees about exposure risks during collection and management of municipal solid waste.

Social distancing at the workplace, working from home and implementing additional cleaning and sanitizing measures were the top practices used by companies to keep employees safe (Figure 4). Two-thirds of employers have implemented three or more measures to protect employees, while fewer than 1 percent have implemented no measures. Some companies allow employees to work from home, obviating the need for some of these practices, such as social distancing.

When asked what concerns the public was sharing with the solid waste field related to COVID-19, 53 percent of companies indicated that their customers had few or no concerns relative to waste management. Of concerns noted, the majority of respondents received questions regarding whether their waste would be picked up and if convenience/drop-off centers would be open. A limited number of respondents were concerned how the employees would protect themselves from waste infected with COVID-19 (Figure 5).

As for impacts to revenue and waste volume, approximately two-thirds of respondents noted they have faced moderate to severe operations impacts due to COVID-19 restrictions, while fewer than 10 percent indicated no affects at all (Figure 6). The vast majority of respondents (more than 70 percent) expect revenues to decrease, while about 23 percent expect revenues to remain the same and a few expect revenues to increase. The majority of those indicating unchanged revenue include government agencies, students, academic institutions, consulting firms and nonprofits/nongovermental organizations. About 6 out of 10 of haulers/waste managers experienced a decrease in volumes, while nearly 3 in 10 actually managed more material and the remainder were unchanged. This reflects the decline in commercial waste from the closure of offices, retail spaces and restaurants contrasted by the increase in residential waste from being quarantined. Unfortunately, increased volumes do not necessarily translate to attendant rise in revenue as many residential contracts are fixed price. 

Nearly 70 percent of respondents indicated they saw changes in specific waste streams, with residential waste expectedly undergoing the largest increase. The remaining 30 percent consisted of food, yard, commercial, medical, construction and demolition (C&D) and industrial waste, in that order (Figure 7). On the other hand, 67 percent of respondents saw a decrease in commercial waste (Figure 8).

Contrary to what some might expect, more respondents noted a decrease in medical waste than an increase. Anecdotal observations via discussions with medical personnel suggest that while localized COVID-19 “hotspots” could result in increased medical waste volumes, the majority of the U.S. has seen reductions in medical waste. Healthcare workers suggest this could be due to a large portion of the population working at home, which may impact the frequency of situations requiring medical care. Elective surgeries were canceled and telehealth services have increased. Many doctors and dentists closed their offices to routine care and are only now beginning to reopen. In addition, COVID-19 patients do not generate significant amounts of medical waste. (April 2020)

Despite the changes in volume of the waste streams, 83 percent of survey respondents indicated that they are not handling any waste differently.

Of those who are managing waste differently, general municipal solid waste is being managed differently more often than recycling or medical waste streams due to COVID-19 concerns (Figure 9). The top four changes being made in how waste is managed are:

There have been alterations in the way that recycling is being handled. In some instances, recycling is being sent directly to the landfill or minimal sorting is occurring. Some stopped any manual sorting, and others allowed all recyclables to be mixed stopping all sorting. There were a few instances where recycling was stopped completely (Figure 10).