Corporates to make door-to-door collection of biomedical wastes a reality

Hoping that state pollution control boards will come heavily down on institutions not adhering to the biomedical waste rules, private players are making a beeline with innovative services to provide solutions to tackle the contentious issue of waste collection, transporation and disposal.

Pest Control India and the UK-based Cannon Hygiene International Ltd are soon to offer a new line of waste disposable service to make door-to-door collection of biomedical wastes a reality.

It has been two years since the Ministry of Environment of Forests came out with the Biomedical Waste Rules. But, the rules are hardly implemented since there are instances of passing-the-buck syndrome between the state pollution control boards and department of public health.

Mumbai is a case in point. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has authorised the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for collection, transportation and elimination of biomedical waste. But, BMC is yet to apply a comprehensive action plan for biomedical waste management, owing to limited resources and due to proliferation of nursing homes in the City.

There are more than 10,000 centers in Mumbai alone generating biomedical wastes, apart from big medical institutions with inhouse waste treatment facilities. It is impossible to do a door-to-door collection, says a BMC official.

So, a massive logistics operation is being planned by PCI Cannon Pvt Ltd, a joint venture company based in Mumbai. The service encompasses provision of compact disposable units at hospital premises to collect wastes. These units contain HIQ GRASafe, a specilly formulated sanitising fluid, which is active in both liquid and vapour phase. The fluid disinfects the wastes and prevents cross-contamination and remains effective upto a period of eight weeks.

The units will be entirely handled by trained personnel of the company while the segregation of the waste will have to be done at the source itself. The company is targeting small and medium sized hospitals and nursing homes, where the amount of wastes generated is low.

Interestingly, the company has asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to authorise its services with a view to exempt waste generators for a similar kind of authorisation. As per the Biomedical Waste Rules, each and every generator of biomedical wastes (be it large hospitals, nursing homes, dispensaries, pathology laboratories of clinics) should be authorised by the respective state pollution control board.

“We want to make our clients free of any procedural hassles by taking care of legal and administrative issues at our end,” says the spokesperson of PCI Cannon.

In return, the company will charge a fixed fee based on the quantity of wastes generated, which works out to around Rs 20 per kilo.

For waste elimination, the company has tied up with BMC for utilising two autoclaves that are soon to be operational in Mumbai. The company will diversify to other metropolitan cities after one year.

India generates around three million tonnes of medical wastes each year. With the introduction of modern medical practices and disposable devices, the amount of medical waste is expected to grow at eight per cent annually.