Helping hands solve medical waste problem

Medical waste is usually placed in plastic bags, which are then tightly bound and put in covered containers. Before being transported to a temporary storage site, the containers are disinfected. Later, they are taken to the waste disposal plant, where they are disinfected again, Liu said.

"In every stage of the procedure－collection, storage and transfer－we use intelligent equipment to track the weight of the waste, where it has come from and the person in charge of each part of the process," he said.

Liu added that as the virus is highly contagious, medical facilities have to be 100 percent certain that once waste is discharged from wards, proper treatment measures are taken to avoid the risk of transmission.

Wuhan has not been alone in facing problems with medical waste disposal, with 54 other cities encountering such a challenge, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

On Feb 21, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee underscored the need to step up efforts to strengthen facilities for the collection and disposal of medical and hazardous waste.

Five days later, 10 central government bodies, including the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the National Development and Reform Commission, unveiled a plan for the management of medical waste and called for the construction of dedicated disposal facilities to be stepped up nationwide.

According to a document released after the meeting, at least one facility for the "concentrated disposal" of medical waste must be built in cities at and above prefectural level by the end of this year. It added that by mid-2022, a system for medical waste collection, transportation and disposal must be established in each county in the country.

According to observers, the outbreak will help spur the development of the medical waste treatment sector.

In a recent report, market researcher CCID Consulting said that due to the epidemic, China's medical waste treatment sector could expand by as much as 15 percent this year to 6.7 billion yuan ($956 million).

The report said the outbreak has made people more concerned about the treatment of medical waste, and with the increased use of protective gear, sales of waste disposal equipment will grow by about 20 percent to 8.5 billion yuan by the end of 2022.