Ahmedabad: Coronavirus bio-waste disposal costs Rs 45/kg

AHMEDABAD: Household waste may fetch you kitchen change but hospitals are reeling under high cost of disposing bio-waste in times of Covid pandemic. The cost of collection and disposal of biomedical waste (BW), which was Rs 24 per kg pre-lockdown, shot up to Rs 50 for Covid-19 waste during lockdown. After June 3, it became a notch lower at Rs 45 per kg which is still almost double the charge citing high contagion risk of Covid.
What's more, hospitals are also being charged an additional average Rs 500 per trip for collection of Covid BW, a transportation charge which was non-existent in pre-Covid times. During the lockdown, transportation cost was Rs 750.

A senior representative of Apollo Hospital, a designated Covid hospital, said that its daily Covid-19 BW varies between 150-180 kg. "It costs the hospital an average Rs 9,000 daily just to dispose of the waste. It's a necessity as it should not accumulate," said an official.
At HCG, the BW generated daily also hovers around 100-120 kg, said an official. "Along with PPEs and regular sanitization, disposal of BW is a major overhead for any hospital having Covid-19 patients," said the official.
'Contagiousness has caused 100% increase in costs'
Those in the business of medical waste disposal say costs have risen 100% as Covid-waste is highly contagious and needs cent percent incineration. Kanu Patel, owner of a major BW processing firm in Ahmedabad disposing waste of 10 major hospitals, said: "Normal BW - which is predominantly dry - has 60% component which needs incineration whereas rest of the waste can be processed through other methods. But Covid-19 waste needs 100% incineration that includes leftovers. It requires frequent cleaning of incinerators," he said.
"PPE kits consume large volumes in vehicles and form bulk items for disposal. Earlier one trip would carry 320 kg of BW. But now one trip carries only 150-odd kg, increasing the trip numbers," said Vinod Kachhadia, national president of association of common biomedical waste treatment facilities (CBWTF). "These vehicles also need regular sanitization and we cannot use it for any other purpose. Thus, the overheads rise."
Between March 23 and June 6, 20 operational BW disposal facilities of Gujarat have processed about 5.8 lakh kg (580 tons) of BW, said Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) officials. Gujarat today has the highest number of BW disposal facilities, they added. Ahmedabad topped the list with disposal of 65% of total waste or about 3.8 lakh (380 tons) of BW.