Biomedical waste comprises human & animal anatomical waste, treatment apparatus like needles, syringes and other materials used in health care facilities.
85% of the hospital waste is non-hazardous and 15% is infectious/hazardous. Mixing of hazardous waste with non-hazardous waste results in to contamination and makes the entire waste hazardous.
Hence there is necessity to segregate and treat the biomedical waste.
The new bio-medical waste management rules replaced the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 to efficiently manage the generated bio-waste in the country.
Salient Features
The scope of the rules has been expanded to include vaccination camps, blood donation camps, surgical camps or any other healthcare activity.
Establish a Bar-Code System for bags or containers containing bio-medical waste for disposal.
Bio-medical waste has been classified in to 4 categories instead 10 to improve the segregation of waste at source.
Procedure to get authorisation has been simplified.
The new rules prescribe more stringent standards for incinerator to reduce the emission of pollutants in environment.
State Government to provide land for setting up common bio-medical waste treatment and disposal facility;
In 2018, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) released new amendments to the Bio-medical Waste Management Rules, 2016.
Key Highlights
Major Bio-medical waste generators such as hospitals, clinics, vaccination camps etc. will now be required to phase-out the use of chlorinated plastic bags and gloves by March, 2019.
Common biomedical waste treatment facility (CBMWTF) shall be established with GPS and Barcoding facility, as per guidelines of the CPCB.
The new rule specifies for “pre-treatment of Bio-medical waste”; where every occupier of health care facility needs to pre-treat the laboratory waste, microbiological waste etc. on-site, as per guidelines on safe management of wastes from health care activities by WHO and WHO Blue Book 2014 and then send it to CBMWTF for final disposal.
All healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics, etc. should provide annual report on its official website within two years of the publication of the amended rules.
