Increase Use of Disposable Masks Raises Jakarta Hazardous Waste

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta Environment Department head Andono Warih states that hazardous waste in the city keeps climbing as the waste of disposable face masks and gloves also increases during the Covid-19 pandemic. He urges that such medical wastes need to be handled cautiously.

People’s awareness in using personal protective equipment or PPE, that is included as hazardous or B3 waste, also increases the deangerous risks of public safety and health.

“This kind of waste used to be found at health facilities but now it is also es in household waste, so it needs special treatment,” Andono said in a press release received on Friday, April 3.

Therefore, the Jakarta Health Department implements hazardous waste management protocols to suppress the spread of coronavirus transmission and to protect the cleaning service officers who have to deal with it in the frontline.

Andono also fears of people reselling the used surgical masks which danger the health of the others who will wear it. He also calls on the public to sort the waste and implement a simple disinfection to the used masks to avoid covid-19 transmission, such as by soak it in or spray it with bleach and then cut the used mask off to avoid it being reused.

Antara