Ministry of Environment Implements Measures to Stabilize Supply of COVID-19 Medical Waste Containers... Shortens Inspection Period

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae (left) and Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-du attended the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment will implement measures such as shortening the inspection period to stabilize the supply of dedicated containers used for storing medical waste related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

On the 10th, Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae visited 'Bokwang Environment,' a manufacturer of dedicated medical waste containers located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and inspected the container production site.

Dedicated medical waste containers are used to collect, transport, or store medical waste to prevent infections caused by medical waste, and come in box-type and bag-type containers.

The Ministry of Environment decided to implement supply stabilization measures by temporarily relaxing manufacturing requirements, such as shortening the inspection period and allowing temporary storage warehouses, to ensure no issues arise in additional production for smooth supply of dedicated containers.

They plan to partially relax the conformity test regulations and, in consultation with inspection agencies such as the Korea Environment Corporation, significantly shorten the inspection period from the existing 14 days to 7 days.

Additionally, if short-term storage (48 hours) is required after container production, storage will be allowed without ventilation or shading facilities within the range where there are no quality issues.

Minister Cho said, "Thanks to the efforts of numerous stakeholders working behind the scenes, COVID-19 waste is being safely processed," and added, "The Ministry of Environment will actively support the industry to ensure there are no disruptions in the supply of dedicated medical waste containers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.