High volume of hazardous wastes collected in 2021

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City had the highest collection of hazardous wastes in 2021 having collected a total of 41,316 kilograms of medical wastes and costs the city government almost P2 million for collection and disposal.

Based on the status report of the City Health Department (CHD) dated March 17, 2022, the city spent P48 per kilo or a total of P1,983,168 for the collection and disposal of medical wastes.

The City Council earlier requested the CHD to submit a status report on the city's disposal and treatment of the COVID-19 medical waste in view of the recent report of the World Health Organization (WHO) that "discarded syringes, used test kits, and old vaccine bottles from the COVID-19 pandemic have piled up to create tens of thousands of metric tons of medical waste, threatening human health and the environment.”

“Relative to the report of the WHO, the health care/ medical/ hazardous waste of the city, from the departments' perspective, is produced from the eighty-five health stations strategically located in each barangay,” read the status report prepared by Environmental, Commercial, and Industrial Sanitation Division officer-in-charge Sergio Zelig Javier.

Javier said health care waste like needles, syringes, and other sharps are segregated from each health stations (health centers) with a designated container for hazardous sharps.

These wastes are collected and transported to the department and stored at the hazardous waste storage, from which hazardous are then collected by the Pollution Abatement System Specialist, Inc. (PASSI) on a scheduled basis.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, hazardous waste like sharps (needles and syringes), used test kits, and contaminated personal protective equipment are discarded through its collection from the health stations, including those that are produced from the cluster clinics and contact tracing. These hazardous wastes are then transported and stored at the hazardous waste storage of the department,” it further read.

The stored wastes are then collected by the infectious waste hauler, PASSI, and are disposed of accordingly.

The hazardous waste at the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC) are collected by CHD’s sanitation inspectors, which are stored appropriately at the hazardous waste storage of the department prior to collection and disposal by PASSI.

Further, hazardous waste produced from the vaccination sites such as syringes and used vaccine vials are directly collected and disposed of accordingly by PASSI.

The CHD noted that it has no data nor involvement in the collection of hazardous waste like face mask that are thrown by the general public and are noted on the streets and pavements, and private parking lots.

“In contrast to the provision of the City Ordinance 2605 also known as ‘An Ordinance Prohibiting the Improper Disposal of Facemasks and Other COVID-19 Protective Gears and Products in the City of Cebu and Providing Penalties and Violation Thereof. We could only assume that establishments, in compliance to the aforementioned City Ordinance, follow through the process of proper disposal of hazardous waste,” the status report read.

In 2019, the CHD only spent P88,830 for the collection of 2,538 kg of hazardous waste, having a cost of P35 for the collection per kilo.

Meanwhile, in 2020, P500,000 was the department’s total expenditure for the 12,500 kilograms of hazardous waste collected. The cost of collection per kilo is at P40.

As of March 1, 2022, P83,712 was already spent by CHD for the collection and disposal of 1,744 kilograms of hazardous waste. Just like in 2021, the cost of collection remains at P48.

The City Council scheduled the appearance of CHD officer-in-charge Jeffrey Ibones as well as representative from City Environment and Natural Resources Office during the Citizen’s Hour of the council’s last regular session of the month.

Councilor Alvin Dizon made the move so that further clarifications on the status report will be addressed. — FPL (FREEMAN)