150 tn waste generated daily with worst-hit Maha contributing maximum 30 tn/day
India is generating 150 tonnes or 1.50 lakh kilograms of Covid-19 biomedical waste daily. And Maharashtra — the worst-affected State — is contributing the maximum to it with 30 tonnes or 30,000 kg every day. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in the last four months, India generated over 18,000 tonnes of Covid-19 bio-medical waste, calling for urgent remedial steps to treat the menace.
“Since June, all States and Union Territories have generated 18,006 tonnes of Covid-19-related biomedical waste which is being collected, treated and disposed of by 198 common biomedical waste treatment facilities (CBWTFs),” said the country’s top pollution regulator body.
Covid-19 biomedical waste includes PPE kits, masks, shoe covers, gloves, human tissues, body fluids like dressings, plaster casts, cotton swabs, beddings contaminated with blood or body fluid, blood bags, needles and syringes.
As per data, Maharashtra generated 3,587 tonnes of Covid-19 waste in four months since June, followed by Tamil Nadu (1,737 tonnes), Gujarat (1,638 tonnes), Kerala (1,516 tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (1,432 tonnes), Delhi (1,400 tonnes), Karnataka (1,380 tonnes) and West Bengal (1,000 tonnes).
Around 5,490 tonnes of such waste was generated in September, with Gujarat contributing the maximum 622 tonnes, followed by Tamil Nadu (543 tonnes), Maharashtra (524 tonnes), Uttar Pradesh (507 tonnes) and Kerala (494 tonnes). Delhi generated 382 tonnes of Covid-19 bio-medical waste in September, according to the CPCB data.
As per CPCB guidelines, used PPEs like face shields, goggles, hazmat suits, plastic coverall, used masks, head cover, shoe cover etc generated from Covid-19 isolation wards at healthcare facilities shall be segregated and sent to common facilities for disposal as per Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 (BMWM Rules).
However, used PPEs like masks and gloves generated in common households, commercial establishments, institutions, etc are required to store separately for a minimum 72 hours for disposal along with solid waste after cutting or shredding.
The apex pollution body had in May developed the “Covid-19 BWM” mobile application to monitor coronavirus-related biomedical waste and to compile the data through electronic manifest system.
This application tracks Covid-19 waste at the time of generation, collection and disposal.
The Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016, define biomedical waste as “any waste that is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunisation of human beings or animals or research activities pertaining there to or in the production or testing of biological or in health camps”. Therefore, broadly, any waste generated from treating patients comes under the ambit of biomedical waste.