A beauty and wellness clinic along Marcos Highway was flagged by the city government for improper disposal of medical waste.
A concerned citizen reported sacks of medical waste with used syringes stockpiled on the side of the road and was later traced to a clinic in Barangay Burnham-Legarda based on the receipts and tags mixed with the hazardous waste.
The Public Order and Safety Division under the City Mayor’s Office quickly collected the medical waste and brought these to the city’s Solid Waste Transfer Station in Dontogan.
However, City General Services Officer Eugene Buyucan refused to accept the hazardous waste since these will not be accepted at the engineered sanitary landfill in Capas, Tarlac where residual waste are being dumped.
Buyucan explained that only residual waste will be accepted per the Memorandum of Agreement with the private ESL operator and that the city will be penalized P500,000 per day for disposing infectious, hazardous or medical waste.
GSO and POSD personnel returned the hauled medical waste back to the beauty clinic for proper disposal along with the issuance of notice of violation by the Permits and Licensing Division (PLD).
Engr. Charles Bryan Carame, former supervising administrative officer of the City health Services Office–Sanitary Division explained that health facilities including laboratories and clinics as waste generator are required to have their own Treatment, Storage and Disposal (TSD) through a third-party accredited by the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (EMB-DENR).
As provided by Presidential Decree 856 on toxic waste management, the accredited third party TSD shall collect and properly dispose of hazardous waste.
“But the waste generator should first sort these – separate sharps and put them in a sealed non-puncture container – then place them in a sealed yellow plastic,” Carame explained.
In a message, EMB Cordillera Senior Environmental Management Specialist Mark Anthoy Solano said “potentially hazardous wastes generators are required to register and secure their Hazardous Wastes Generator Registration ID that will serve as their tracking for the proper disposal of their hazardous wastes to a DENR Accredited Transporter to be properly disposed of in a DENR Accredited Treater, Storage and Disposal (TSD) Facility.”
He added that establishments are not allowed to dispose of their hazardous wastes to be collected by the local government units.
“The establishments are responsible for the proper disposal of their generated hazardous wastes,” he said.
He said the concern will now be coursed to the Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes Monitoring Section of EMB-CAR for appropriate action. ** JM Samidan
