Rospotrebnadzor recommends to suspend the separate collection of waste that due to the fact that patients with mild forms COVID-19 treated at home, disposed of, any item can be dangerous for the health of the personnel of the enterprises of municipal solid waste. However, eco-activists are confident that the decision will deal a major blow to environmental security. Especially at a time when the world is drowning in medical waste.
Great risk of Contracting coronavirus
At the time of the pandemic coronavirus infection in Rospotrebnadzor advised to suspend the separate collection of waste. According to experts, when sorting and processing there is a risk of infection of personnel of the enterprises of municipal solid waste (MSW).
“Not only is there the risk of infection for personnel but also contamination of production environment”, — said the press service of the Ministry. They explained that some patients with a mild form of coronavirus infection treated at home, and discarded items can be potential sources of the virus.
However, eco-activists reacted to the proposal of the Ministry skeptical. So, the head of public organisation “Garbage. More. No,” Karina Ivchenko called the recommendation a “strange and unnecessary”.
“I don’t believe that the virus can jump from waste, which usually lay for several days, and as a vampire, to glare at the man and infect him. Instead of going in the direction of separate collection, all the civilized countries, we somehow rolled back,” said eco-activist “Газете.Ru”.
According to her, the garbage that people throw away never gets to the sorting immediately – before it at least a few days lying in the waste container. “That’s enough to from the coronavirus if it was there, nothing left,” — said Ivchenko.
With that out of the waste sorting is not necessary, I agree, and specialist in environmental issues, candidate of geographical Sciences Natalia Koldobskaya. “I think it’s just another questionable excuse not to separate the waste. I personally doubt it, because of the garbage there is a high risk to be infected with the coronavirus” she said “Газете.Ru”. The expert stressed that prior to the pandemic, the introduction of separate collection has been far too slow.
In extreme cases the risk of infection can be reduced by sorting the garbage for only two large blocks — the raw materials that can be recycled and the General waste stream, says she.
Environmental organization Greenpeace Russia also responded to the offer of CPS. In his Telegram channel its representatives wrote that “the prohibition of separate collection during a pandemic would plunge the country in 90-e”. According to eco-activists, it may lead to deterioration of��physical environment, plastic pollution and the growth of landfills.
In support of his words, Greenpeace Russia has published the guideline of the European Union, which States that separate collection of waste does not assume any epidemiological threats by following simple security measures. According to the recommendations of the experts, cases waste should be collected in heavy plastic bag, so they had no contact with other garbage and recyclables. The employees of solid waste should be separately consulted and provided with personal protective equipment.
365 tons of waste for February
Meanwhile, the number of medical waste — masks, gloves, consumables for ventilators continues to grow rapidly around the world. So, the total amount of medical waste collected in Hubei province in February, amounted to 365 tons, of which 60% came from hospitals, says the report of the National Commission for development and reform. For comparison: the provincial capital of Wuhan produced only 17 thousand tons of medical waste for the whole of 2018.
As informs a portal “DW”, even on the uninhabited Soko Islands, located a few nautical miles from Hong Kong, all the beaches covered with medical garbage. Just three beach access, a member of the group for the conservation of nature OceansAsia Gary Stokes found about 100 masks, beached.
“We never noticed that amount of waste in such a remote place. When we found them, it took only six to eight weeks since then, as people started to use masks,” said Stokes.
According to experts, these wastes came from neighboring Hong Kong, where for the waste treated carelessly. “If you throw them out on the street, in the rain gloves and masks end up in the sea, where they present a threat to marine flora and fauna”, — said marine biologist and scientific Director of the Institute for the protection of the marine environment of Greece Anastasia Miliou.
According to Stokes, primarily from negligence of people will suffer pink dolphins and green turtles: lain in water for a long time plastic cluttered with algae and attracts them with its smell.
Not less dangerous are those wastes that do not fall into the sea, said the Executive Director of the company on recycling Zero Waste Europe in Brussels Joan Marc Simon. According to him, even gloves of latex rubber are not always environmentally friendly, as there is added chemicals during production. Some of them can harm the environment in the process of decomposition.
Personal protective equipment that are used in hospitals, may also under certain conditions be used several times and do not accumulate in such quantities, sure who.
Indeed, WithSHA carmaker Ford has already started to produce reusable medical gowns from the materials for airbags that can be washed up to 50 times. The University of Nebraska in turn, testing ultraviolet light as a means for disinfection of medical masks, which in this case can be used several times.
As noted by a representative of Zero Waste Europe, countries should not choose between protecting the environment and protecting the health of the population, as is happening now. “In the future we need to be sure that it is ready to such pandemics. And most importantly, that we are ready to fight with them environmental way,” he said.
“we Need to maintain the adequacy”
Agree with foreign colleagues and national eco-activists. According to them, in a pandemic, medical waste become a real environmental threat.
“the Mask and gloves apply to medical waste and disposed of separately, because there is a completely different process. Now, however, they are widely used at home and thrown out with other trash. And their number, of course, scares. Here it is not even in their toxicity and infection are dangerous because it is not a recyclable plastic. From the point of view of impact on the environmental situation, this is a big problem,” — said she.
As a solution to problems in Greenpeace Russia have already recommended to implement waste sorting at the level of government.
“Instead of cancel harmless separate collection, the CPS should urgently create a system for the collection of hazardous medical waste from the population. This will really help prevent the spread of infection,”— said in a Telegram-channel organization, expert of the project “Zero waste”, Greenpeace Russia Alexey Kiselev.
I agree with him and the head “Garbage. More. No.” “It would be great if our authorities have organized a special collection of medical waste from the public. Now we have not developed, so people have to just throw it all in the container. In addition, some medicines sent also in the toilet, which then affects water quality, which is simply impossible to clean up everything. In medical institutions the system of sorting still somehow works, but, in fact, and there waste is often simply burned,” — said Ivchenko.
According to the companion publication, the pandemic should not take years and cause irreparable harm to the environment. However, try to minimise it with your hand everyone should.
“In any case, you need to keep the adequacy and conscious approach to such moments. For example, try to use the reusable – the same mask and not to produce unnecessary garbage,” she concluded.
