THE Environmental Management Bureau–Cordillera (EMB-CAR) in the Cordillera Administrative Region has proposed a facility where health equipment from hospitals and households can be disposed of properly, which is seen as a measure to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Local government units (LGUs)in the region have experienced difficulty in disposing of solid waste and healthcare items such as masks, gloves, gowns used by households, including health workers, during the implementation of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Maria Victoria Abrera, EMB – CAR regional director, explained a proposal will be submitted to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the possible acquisition of equipment to properly dispose of healthcare items possibly infected with Covid-19.

“The local government units have experienced hardship in disposing of health care items during the ECQ because of the stringent monitoring measures in disposing of solid waste (particularly gloves, masks and others being used at home). This is another problem because it is an ordinary life for us wearing masks, and the LGUs do not have the capability especially without the treatment storage facilities or TSLs,” Abrera said.

Hospitals either incinerate, use autoclaves and mechanical or chemical disinfection as treatment and disposal of medical waste.

Autoclaves are closed chambers that apply heat and sometimes pressure and steam, over some time to sterilize medical equipment.

Autoclaves have been used for a century to sterilize medical instruments for reuse. Surgical knives and clamps, for instance, are put in autoclaves for sterilization.

For medical waste that will be disposed of, autoclaves can be used as heat treatment processing units to destroy microorganisms before disposal in a traditional landfill or further treatment. Autoclaves are a batch process, not a continuous one. Autoclaves are chemical-free and appeal to many stakeholders in a complex waste management environment.

“Baguio, for one, has to engage for a TSL facility in Pampanga, which is also being done by hospitals. That is why we proposed seven facilities to the ADB for the acquisition of TSL facilities and autoclave for all our provinces which we hope will be approved,” Abrera added.

Autoclaves are best for wastes that are unlikely to combust or give off substantial off-gas. While incinerators can be built with pollution abatement systems, autoclaves are smaller and it is not economical to unit make a treatment system for vapors emitting from the unit.

Autoclaved medical waste is usually compacted after it cools down. The compaction process may include shredding before the compression. The compaction process reduces the volume of the treated waste significantly.