Trash collection center being built in Wuhan

A private company specializing in hazardous waste disposal and sewage treatment is building a new medical waste disposal center in Wuhan, Hubei province, to fight the novel coronavirus, according to local media.

"We expect to finish construction of the 2,000-square-meter center within 10 days with a daily capacity of 22 metric tons," said Mei Gang, general manager of Wuhan Beihuyunfeng Environmental Technology. "Since we received the local government's request on Jan 21, we have disposed of about 200 tons of medical waste."

The daily capacity for medical waste disposal on Feb 24 on the mainland stood at 5,831 tons, 928 tons more than that before the onset of the virus outbreak, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Hubei was capable of disposing 649 tons of medical waste as of Feb 24 and the number in Wuhan was 263 tons, the ministry said.

Regions outside Hubei have also promoted specific measures for medical waste disposal.

All hospitals designated for treating novel coronavirus patients in Guangdong province have facilities connected to 78 local sewage plants, Chen Jinluan, deputy director of the provincial department of ecology and environment, said on Feb 20.

The province has the capacity to process 427 tons of medical waste daily, 58 percent of which is used on average.

During the epidemic, water and air quality have been in line with standards and have actually been the best during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), he said.

Fujian province has made use of its big data platform to strengthen the supervision of medical waste during the epidemic.

The platform, called "ecological cloud", can help collect daily information about the generation, transfer, reception and disposal of medical waste in designated hospitals in the province.

It reduces the frequency of on-site supervision and ensures the comprehensive and standardized disposal of medical waste, according to an official with the provincial department of ecology and environment.

Hebei province has ordered organizations and companies to separately collect medical waste related to the novel coronavirus pneumonia, including used masks, protective suits and gloves, as well as waste water from hospitals treating infected patients.

The waste is transported in special vehicles that will be cleaned and disinfected.

Special trash cans to collect used facial masks must be set up in residential communities, public places, companies and villages, the local government said.

Similar measures are being taken in Heilongjiang province.

Public areas including supermarkets and shopping malls have been equipped with special trash cans for collecting used masks.