With India needing an estimated 25 lakh units of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) every day, experts and scientists have highlighted the need for proper post-usual disposal, treatment and recycling of the discarded plastic gears to safeguard the environment.
Suddenly, the PPEs have given a new lease of life to plastic which was facing severe scrutiny across the world on environmental grounds.
Even India had banned single use plastic to protect the environment and today except a few no one seems to be complaining.
Since the COVID 19 outbreak, plastic items such as PPE suits, masks, gloves, sanitiser/ hand wash /water bottles, shoe/head cover have been the protective shields for the front-line workers.
Participating in a discussion Dr. K. K. Aggarwal, Former President, Indian Medical Association and President Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania said currently medical workers need protective gear which are made from an impermeable and non-porous material such as plastics to avoid COVID-19 infection.
Hence masks, gloves, protective shield for eyes/face, head and shoe covers, aprons made from plastics are being used since impermeable material stops virus containing droplets from touching the skin.
“Also the virus stays on the outer surface of the protective gear. It is also essential that healthcare workers change their personal protective equipment in every 8 hours, and regularly decontaminate the hospital,” Dr. Aggarwal said.
“Currently, 40 lakh health workers are fighting against COVID-19 . We need 20 to 25 lakh protective equipment every day to protect the workers from the infection,” he said.
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Prof. Ashok K. Agarwal, President, Indian Association for Hospital Waste Management and Former Dean, IIHMR, New Delhi said the improper handling and disposal of medical waste could put healthcare workers at a higher risk of infection.
“All biomedical waste needs to be disposed in colour coded categories - yellow, red, white and blue – as per the guidelines stipulated in the Biomedical Waste Management Rules 2016 and by the Centre of Pollution Control Board,” he said.
“These guidelines must be followed studiously to contain Corona virus infection. The government should ensure the availability of plastic garbage/disposal bags in hospitals, quarantined places and general households, so the waste can be collected and treated (medical waste) or recycled (general waste),” he added.
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According to Dr. Vijay Habbu, Adjunct Professor, Institute of Chemical Technology the protective equipments such as masks, gloves, PPEs and plastic bags/bottles used while delivering essentials such as grains, oil, water must not be carelessly thrown away.
“They must be properly disposed so they can be treated/recycled. The earth is healing itself; it is an ideal time to cut down on non-eco-friendly human practices such as littering and utilise this time to strengthen the plastic waste management ecosystem in India,” he said.
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Dr. Habbu said scientifically all types of plastic products/equipments are recyclable and every Indian citizen must know this fact.
“The responsibility to ensure proper disposal of waste and source segregation is on every Indian citizen, it will prevent the highly hazardous practice of waste dumping in landfills/waste bodies and help in keeping our earth clean and green,” he said.
