The government has permitted Kerala Enviro Infrastructure Limited (KEIL) at Ambalamedu here to collect and process biomedical waste generated in government and private healthcare institutions across five districts including Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki.
The Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility at Ambalamedu was processing the biomedical waste generated in government hospitals at Ernakulam, Malappuram and Pathanamthitta. The company had pointed out that the operation of the plant, having the capacity to treat 16 tonnes daily, was not viable with the reduced quantity of waste obtained from the government healthcare institutions in three districts.
An order issued by the chairman of the State Pollution Control Board on August 13 stated that KEIL would collect and process biomedical waste from Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki from September 1 onwards. All government and private healthcare institutions in the State have to comply with this order.
The rest of the biomedical waste generated from government and private healthcare institutions in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Malappuram, Palakkad, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod will be collected and processed at the common facility of the Indian Medical Association Goes Eco Friendly (IMAGE) in Palakkad. The plant managed by IMAGE was the only common facility in the State until KEIL’s plant received the consent to operate on May 11.
The data uploaded on the Central Pollution Control Board’s tracking app for COVID-19 biomedical waste showed that the Ambalamedu plant was getting only three to four tonnes of COVID and non-COVID biomedical waste from the government hospitals allocated in Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Malappuram.
The Palakkad facility of IMAGE was found operating with full capacity and still accumulating waste of around eight tonnes daily. This system of distribution of biomedical waste was resulting in shortage of waste for processing in one unit and accumulation of waste in another unit. Hence, a balance needed to be worked out for the effective management of the biomedical waste, according to the order issued on August 13. The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal had asked the government to examine whether more hospitals could be connected with the KEIL facility.
