The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has called for expression of interest from consultants for conducting gap surveys for bio-medical and e-waste in the State. The consultant should study the gap between generation and end disposal/recycling of the waste and suggest ways and means to bridge it.
“This will help us to manage the waste in a better manner and ensure proper disposal. It will also make us understand the economics and associated environmental impact caused by the storage or improper disposal,” explained an official with the TNPCB.
An expert in bio-medical waste management said there were cases where even big hospitals did not ensure that all the waste was safely disposed of. “In large hospitals, though senior-level management usually wants to ensure proper disposal, the lower-level staff are not careful enough,” he said, adding that such persons needed to be constantly educated and sensitised.
Cost constraints
“Many small clinics do not register with the collection agencies due to cost constraints. They dispose medical waste, including used needles, in regular bins. At times, they do not disclose the number of beds they have to cut cost, he explained.
Consultants have to establish the biomedical waste chain linking different stakeholders, to understand the route, with economics and associated environmental impact.
As far as e-waste was concerned, an industry expert said that annually 20 lakh tonnes of e-waste were generated. “However, we have a recycling capacity of only 5 lakh tonnes. The government agencies do not have a proper system of collection of e-waste. Everyone only wants to sell e-waste. Though e-waste from corporates is picked up properly, very little is done to collect from consumers. Unlike in Europe, only a fraction of such waste is taken back,” he explained.