Yeongsangang Environment Office Requests Cooperation on Revised Medical Waste Classification and Disposal System

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office announced on the 23rd that it has requested cooperation in the classification and disposal system of medical waste from hospitals and clinics according to the revised 'COVID-19 Special Measures' to ensure stable disposal of medical waste.

According to the revised measures, hospitals and clinics must treat waste generated from the introduction of testing and diagnostic systems such as self-diagnostic kits and rapid antigen tests as general medical waste, not as isolation medical waste. However, isolation hospitals must continue to treat waste as isolation medical waste as before.

In the case of living treatment centers and temporary living facilities, waste generated regardless of medical treatment for confirmed patients must be treated as general waste, not isolation medical waste.

Isolation medical waste should be disposed of in dedicated plastic containers and transported and incinerated on the same day, whereas general medical waste should be disposed of in dedicated cardboard containers and transported and incinerated within 15 days after use.

The medical waste incineration facilities in Gwangju and Jeonnam (2 locations) have a daily capacity of about 82 tons. Until the end of January, the operation rate was about 95%, but since February, due to the spread of the Omicron variant, the operation rate has exceeded 100%.

It is expected that by processing according to the revised measures, spare capacity in medical waste incineration facilities will be secured, contributing to stable disposal.

Kim Seung-hee, head of the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, stated, “We ask for cooperation so that the revised medical waste classification and disposal system can be quickly established,” and added, “We hope that the burden of medical waste disposal will be alleviated in the future.”

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