Anticipate Covid-19 Waste Surge

Padang, MINA – West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi Ansharullah wrote to regents and mayors in the area to anticipate a surge in B3 waste and infectious waste handling Covid-19. Currently, the amount of this waste has increased by between 20 and 30 percent.

Head of the West Sumatra Environmental Service, Siti Aisyah, said that normally the waste was 5.2 tons per day. Now with the increase in cases of waste it has also increased by 20-30 percent. Thus, it was quoted from Republika.

She said that the management of infectious waste had actually been carried out since the recent pandemic. The Governor’s letter detailed the waste in question and the handling that had to be done.

She said that infectious waste and waste came from health facilities, quarantine, independent isolation, vaccination waste, testing laboratories and implementation of Covid-19 detection tests with other technologies.

Siti said that the sorting of B3 and infectious waste must be done in implementing agencies, for example in health facilities.

“The waste will then be processed and destroyed according to Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No.56 of 2015,” she said.

There are three mechanisms in place in West Sumatra to destroy these infectious waste. Namely, each of them carried out the combustion themselves, through a third party, and was burned at a facility owned by PT Semen Padang.

“The destruction at PT Semen Padang is actually an emergency action. The facilities are adequate. If we already have our own facilities, the destruction will be carried out on our own,” he said.

She said that the facility was being worked on in Padang City Cold Water with the help of the Ministry. It is hoped that this year it can be operated.

“The facility is sufficient to accommodate B3 waste and infectious waste from several cities and regencies,” she said. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)