The world’s plastic production is expected to double in the next 20 years, causing significant environmental and sustainability challenges. That is where the necessity to shift to a circular economy (CE) from a linear economy becomes evident. CE aims to solve the huge plastic waste challenges by introducing newer strategies of repairing, recycling, reusing, and designing products with a longer life cycle and less environmental impacts. While most of the existing approaches to quantifying circularity consider different economic and environmental factors, they often neglect the health aspects. This article emphasizes the need to incorporate health impacts into the concept of the circular economy, focusing on the plastic industry. It highlights the health effects on the workers during production and on consumers throughout the product’s life span, including recycling and reuse. The health risks associated with the occupational safety hazards, chemicals utilized in plastic production and recycling, and chemicals released from plastic containers (such as carcinogens, bisphenol A, and phthalates) during prolonged use were analyzed. It also examines the challenges of connecting health impacts to circularity and proposes methods to address worker and consumer health aspects in assessing circularity. Three case studies of plastic production and recycling industries are presented to recommend that despite significant recycling efforts, circularity scores of their products need to be lower due to the substantial health impacts experienced by the workers.

Dhaka, the economic hub of Bangladesh, houses numerous healthcare facilities, resulting in increased medical waste generation. However, waste management systems in these facilities are often inadequate, posing a threat to public health and the environment. Wastewater characteristics vary regionally, making treatment strategies location-specific. This study characterizes medical waste streams in Dhaka, and suggests appropriate treatment strategies. Twenty samples from four major public hospitals were analyzed for various parameters, including dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), color, Total Coliform counts, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅). Samples were categorized as acceptable, moderate, or highly polluted. Results were compared to the standard values provided by the department of Environment of Bangladesh to find that samples show moderate to high pollution levels in terms of TDS, TSS, color, and bacteria. Effective wastewater treatment strategies are needed to mitigate pollution and ensure health and safety. Treatment recommendations include the implementation of pre-treatment processes such as sedimentation and filtration to remove solids and aeration to increase dissolved oxygen levels. To reduce organic pollution, treatment methods including sequencing batch reactor (SBR), Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR), and Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) were recommended according to the applicability of the processes in respective hospitals. Advanced treatment methods such as activated carbon adsorption and ultraviolet disinfection processes were also suggested to address the specific issues like color and bacterial contamination.