2020: 'Gujarat produced 3rd largest quantity of biomedical waste'

AHMEDABAD: A national study comparing states' biomedical waste generation during Covid-19 reveals that Gujarat generated the third largest quantity of biomedical waste in 2020. However, it was also among the states that recorded the sharpest falls in 2021 - 71%, according to the data based on the central pollution control board's (CPCB) reports.
According to the study, 'An investigation of bio-medical waste produced in India during Covid-19 pandemic and Maharashtra state (pre-Covid-19 and post-Covid-19) analysis: a GIS-based approach', published in Research and Health Services & Regions journal indicated that mean biomedical waste generated in tonnes per day was the highest at 25.75 in Maharashtra, followed by 15.72 in Kerala, 14.71 in Gujarat, 13.4 in Tamil Nadu and 11.93 in Uttar Pradesh. The number fell to 4 tonnes per day (72.5% drop) year-on-year.
According to the CPCB data, the number of common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facilities (CBWTF) reduced from 20 in September 2020 to eight in August 2022.
Experts said that the biomedical waste generated during the period included masks, PPE kits, gloves, shoes, hospital waste, and vaccination-related material.
"The period taught us how biomedical waste can be segregated during a pandemic and how its collection and processing can be improved," said a city-based hospital administrator, adding that, with reduction in protection requirements, the waste generation has also reduced.