HCMC – The volume of Covid-19-related waste in HCMC has surged, posing a high risk of pandemic transmission through waste.

Cao Van Tuan, head of the Environmental Technology and Quality Control Department at the HCMC Urban Environment Co., Ltd, said the company had proposed the HCMC government come up with solutions at the earliest to deal with the issue, the local media reported.

Since the city requisitioned the dorm of the Vietnam National University-HCMC as a quarantine center and put many areas under lockdown, waste discharged by residents in these areas has become hazardous waste.

The waste volume in the previous pandemic wave was only six to seven tons per day, but the figure is nearly 40 tons in the current wave, Tuan added.

The capacity of the HCMC Urban Environment Co., Ltd.’s hazardous waste plant is 42 tons per day. If the hazardous waste volume continues to rise, the waste collection and treatment will face difficulties.

Tuan proposed the city call on residents in centralized quarantine facilities and areas under lockdown to segregate medical waste from household waste to reduce the volume of hazardous waste.

At present, medical waste will be disinfected twice before being incinerated at a high temperature. Ash will later be solidified and buried in the area for hazardous waste.

Tuan said some private waste collectors had quit their jobs as they were afraid of being infected with the disease. Therefore, the company has taken charge of the job.