Decommissioning and Safe Disposal of Vaccine Cold Chain Equipment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Focusing on Processes, Risks, and Practical Challenges

TL;DR

This paper examines the challenges of safely decommissioning and disposing of old vaccine refrigeration equipment in low- and middle-income countries to reduce environmental and health risks.

Contribution

The paper introduces a structured, stepwise framework for managing end-of-life vaccine cold chain equipment in low-resource settings.

Findings

End-of-life vaccine cold chain equipment poses environmental and health risks due to hazardous materials like refrigerants and batteries.

A six-step decommissioning process can reduce risks when integrated into asset and waste management systems.

Weak governance, funding, and infrastructure hinder proper disposal in low- and middle-income countries.

Abstract

Immunization programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) rely on large fleets of powered cold chain equipment (CCE), much of which is now aging, inefficient, or technologically obsolete. While substantial investments have expanded and modernized CCE inventories, formal frameworks for end-of-life management lag behind, and obsolete units frequently accumulate in facilities, yards, and warehouses. Inadequate decommissioning and disposal create environmental, occupational, programmatic, and financial risks that are poorly documented and weakly integrated into cold chain and healthcare waste management policies.

We conducted a narrative, process-focused review of electrical vaccine refrigerators and freezers in low- and middle-income settings. Normative guidance from global health, environment, and waste agencies was combined with national policies, program and evaluation reports, healthcare waste management assessments, and selected peer-reviewed literature. Sources were included if they described policies, procedures, or practices for decommissioning, removing, or disposing of vaccine CCE. Extracted information was organized along end-of-life lifecycle stages and synthesized narratively.

The review identifies a systems framework in which end-of-life CCE presents a complex hazard profile, including ozone-depleting and high-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerants, compressor oils, foams, electronics, and, for some solar units, batteries. Decommissioning can be structured into a governance setup followed by six operational steps from notification and technical condemnation through decontamination, removal, transport, and licensed final treatment, supported by cross-cutting documentation and reporting. When these steps are absent or weak, environmental and climate risks, occupational and community exposures, vaccine potency loss, ghost cold-chain capacity, and higher operating costs are common. Implementation is constrained by fragmented mandates, lack of dedicated financing and contract provisions, limited treatment infrastructure, weak inventories, operational and sociocultural barriers, and inequitable impacts on peripheral facilities and informal waste workers.

Decommissioning and safe disposal of vaccine CCE should be treated as routine lifecycle functions and explicitly embedded in cold chain improvement plans, contracts, financing arrangements, and information systems. Applying a structured, stepwise process within existing asset management, healthcare waste management (HCWM), and environmental frameworks can reduce safety and climate risks, improve use of space and resources, and close a long-neglected gap in immunization supply chain performance in LMICs.