Hazardous, septic waste in healthcare facilities proper waste management urged

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health (DOH) urged hospitals and other healthcare facilities to practice proper hazardous waste and septic waste management system.

Engr. Vivencio Ediza Jr., regional sanitary engineer of DOH – Center for Health Development in Central Visayas, said during a forum that health centers are the most generators of infectious waste and hazardous wastes.

In the process of the treatment of its patients, he added that hospitals also generate non-infectious and toxic wastes.

He cited that although only 15% of the total mainstream of wastes is hazardous, it is found to be dangerous and critical since it greatly affects health and environment when left unattended or mismanaged.

He then noted that healthcare facilities should practice waste minimization program intended to reduce, recycle, reuse and compost waste materials.

He explained that residual wastes, on the other hand, are the remaining wastes after the waste minimization due for disposal to approved disposal facilities.

“Everything has been said about proper handling of waste in the healthcare and hospital facilities but all will go back to this fundamental question: who is responsible for the management of waste? The answer is everybody. Management of waste is to be vigilant of culprits who destroy the chastity of the environment through dumping wantonly to bodies of water, open grounds and the like,” he pointed out.

Unlike the waste in households and commercial establishments, Ediza said that hospital wastes are different since it is internationally classified as general, infectious and pathological.

Hazardous wastes must undergo disinfection process before being disposed while non-infectious wastes are either buried safely or disposed into an approved disposal waste facility.

Treatments of infectious waste vary through heat or application of chemical disinfectants such as chlorine.

In a joint DENR-DOH Administrative Order No. 02 dated August 24, 2005, DOH is held responsible in the advocacy towards health care waste management practices to the local chief executives and other stakeholders.

The government agency is also assigned to monitor practices in hospitals, provide technical assistance such as training, preparation of health care waste management plan in the hospital, monitor microbiological test of treated waste and evaluate hospitals on their compliance to health care waste management program.

“There is only one place that we are living and it is our beloved earth that we must take care of it so that this earth is worth living for,” Ediza stated.

Meanwhile, Herbert Paul Streibelt of International Services SES shared to the local players the environmentally-sound waste management technologies and know-how on non-hazardous sewage systems being practiced in Germany.

He said that the waste treatment involves the waste infectious – sterilization enhancement, waste segregation, waste collection and transportation and waste storage.

He added that Germany has water supply-waste water disposal facility for water management  and  sewage plants for public water supply.

Other technologies for waste management that he cited include sludge dewatering system, rotating biological contractor, subsequent batch reactor, trickling filter, aerobic and unaerobic treatment.

Streibelt further noted that the German development policy supports technical and financial assistance projects for the promotion of hazardous and non-hazardous waste management systems.

The country also has its new Closed Cycle Management Act that aims to recycle at least 65% of all municipal waste and recover at least 70% of all construction and demolition waste by 2020.

Ediza and Streibelt spoke during the technical forum on hazardous and septic waste management systems last November 16 that was organized by the Rotary Club. — (FREEMAN)