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1,000 metric tons a day: Philippines faces medical waste deluge amid COVID crisis

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ABS-CBN News

<address style="text-align:center">Video courtesy of PTV </address>How much medical waste do Philippine authorities collect every day?The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said the Philippines collects about 1,000 metric tons of medical waste daily, as the country continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.“Napakarami niya. Ibig sabihin n’yan, kung 6-tonner iyong ating truck, 166 na truck ang lumalabas kada araw para kolektahin ang mga waste na ito,” said DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones. (That&#x27;s a lot. That means if our truck is 6-tonner, 166 trucks go out daily to collect this waste.)The DENR coordinates with local officials to strictly enforce segregation and collection rules under the Solid Waste Management Act, he said in a press briefing. Leones said barangays are in charge of bringing garbage to temporary transfer stations, where city or town authorities separate the healthcare waste. This is transferred to treatment facilities then to a final disposal site, he said. The official said complaints were recently filed against a medical laboratory that dumped its waste in the shoreline of <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/24/22/medical-waste-itinapon-sa-tabi-ng-dagat-sa-catanduanes">Virac, Catanduanes</a>. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/22/covid-infection-through-used-vaccine-syringe-unlikely">COVID-19 infection through used vaccine syringe unlikely: DOH</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/22/tamang-pagtapon-ng-covid-waste-sa-mga-bahay-ipinanawagan">Tamang pagtapon ng COVID-19 waste sa mga bahay ipinanawagan</a></li></ul><div> TOO MUCH MEDICAL WASTE</div>A World Health Organization report earlier warned discarded syringes, used test kits and old vaccine bottles from the COVID-19 pandemic have piled up to create tens of thousands of tons of medical waste, potentially exposing workers to burns, needle-stick injuries and disease-causing germs.We found that COVID-19 has increased healthcare waste loads in facilities to up to 10 times,&quot; Maggie Montgomery, a WHO technical officer, told Geneva-based journalists.She said the biggest risk for affected communities was air pollution caused by burning waste at insufficiently high temperatures leading to the release of carcinogens.The report calls for reform and investment including through the reduction in the use of packaging that has caused a rush for plastic and the use of protective gear made from reusable and recyclable materials.The WHO report estimates that some 87,000 tons of personal protective equipment (PPE) or the equivalent of the weight of several hundred blue whales, has been ordered via a U.N. portal up until Nov. 2021 - most of which is thought to have ended up as waste.The report also mentions some 140 million test kits with a potential to generate 2,600 tons of mostly plastic trash and enough chemical waste to fill one-third of an Olympic swimming pool.In addition, it estimates that some 8 billion vaccine doses administered globally have produced an additional 144,000 tons of waste in the form of glass vials, syringes, needles, and safety boxes. Montgomery said a misperception about the rates of COVID-19 infection from surfaces was to blame for what she called the &quot;overuse&quot; of protective gear, particularly gloves.&quot;We’ve all seen photos of the moonsuits, we&#x27;ve all seen photos of people vaccinating with gloves,&quot; she said. &quot;Certainly across the board... people are wearing excessive PPE,&quot; she added.