Bacolod City – In compliance with the regulations of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Health, the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental properly disposed of the hazardous waste from two health-care facilities in the province, according to the information disclosed by Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II recently.
The Urban Hazmat Transport, a private firm hired by the provincial government, reported having hauled more than 111 metric tons or 111,111 kilograms of hazardous waste from the Cadiz District Hospital and the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City.
βItβs about time to take care of our hazardous waste that was buried there inside our hospital compounds and septic vaults,β Diaz said.
Diaz said that this is the first time that the province is obliged to dispose of hazardous materials from hospitals. The initiative cost the provincial government a P10 million purchase order.
Succeeding orders are expected for the disposal of additional waste from other government-run hospitals across the province.
The two aforementioned hospitals were prioritized because these served as some of the major COVID facilities during the pandemic where personal [protective equipment (PPEs), vials, syringes, and other swab test paraphernalia used during the pandemic were among the disposed waste.
The hauled wastes were piled inside sealed containers and properly sanitized before being transported to a treatment plant in Cavite, Diaz said.
βWe are compliant with our DENR and DOH requirements and continue to operate our hospitals in very, very safe and healthy conditions and environments,β he added.
Moreover, Diaz clarified that even with the presence of an incinerator in Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital, an apparatus used to burn waste materials, it can only be utilized to dispose of the present waste materials produced by the hospital and cannot handle the disposal of backlog waste.
βOur incinerators can only deal with the present waste so we are generating waste that is only enough to be processed,β Diaz said.
Strategically, the province prioritized the disposal of present and regenerating waste materials because they are less hazardous than those that are stocked in the septic vaults of hospitals. (Richard Caballero Jr. via tvds)