THIS Covid-19 pandemic has not only overwhelmed the health care system of many countries, it also overloaded their medical waste management system. There was a surge in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks, gloves and other contaminated single-use protective gear generated by hospitals, isolation facilities and testing laboratories.
In the city of Wuhan, China, for instance, the Covid-19 ground zero, they generated nearly 247 tons of medical waste per day at the peak of the pandemic, nearly six times more than before the pandemic. The generation of medical wastes during their lockdown far exceeded the capability of existing treatment or disposal plants in the city. The local waste management authority deployed mobile incinerators to safely dispose of discarded PPEs.
In the Philippines, more than 19,000 metric tons (MT) of health care waste has been generated as of July this year. Of this, around 5,600 MT has been treated by facilities accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources –Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB). Treatment is done through thermal process, chemical process, irradiation, biological process, encapsulation and inertization. After treatment, the waste has to be disposed of in a DENR-approved sanitary landfill. There are many treatment facilities, but the problem is that most of them are located in Luzon. Some hospitals have their own treatment systems.
The disposal of medical waste, or health care waste, is regulated by several laws including Presidential Decree (PD) 856, the Sanitation Code of the Philippines, and Republic Act 6969, the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990. The Department of Health (DOH) and DENR also came up with Joint Administrative Order No. 02, Series of 2005, which establishes the policies and guidelines on effective and proper handling, collection, transport, treatment, storage and disposal of health care wastes.
The problem of health care waste disposal in this time of pandemic is not highlighted in the Philippines until an incident transpired where used rapid test kits were scattered on a street in Sampaloc, Manila. The garbage bag carrying it was accidentally ripped open. In the ensuing investigation, the garbage collector pointed to a medical laboratory in Quiapo as the source of the used test kits. The laboratory has been served a show-cause order by the City.
There is s system in place for monitoring, transporting and treating waste generated by hospitals. How about the millions of face masks discarded every day from households? Are local government units collecting and disposing of them properly? I haven’t seen any barangay, commercial center or business establishment that has a separate bin for discarded face masks. Mixing discarded PPE with ordinary waste puts the safety of garbage collectors at risk.
In Cebu, there is an ordinance pending before the Cebu Provincial Board seeking to impose a penalty on persons violating the mandatory wearing of face masks and the improper disposal of protective equipment. Other LGUs should do likewise to avoid the spread of Covid-19.