Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Municipal Council of Manzini is mandated by the Environmental Management Act of 2000 to ensure that healthcare risk waste is safely disposed in the City of Manzini.
This is because there are numerous health hazards for both citizens and the environment at large when healthcare risk waste is negligently disposed.
Healthcare risk waste is defined as any waste that poses a risk due to its potential infectious nature. This type of waste is produced mostly by medical health facilities like pharmacies, clinics and hospitals.
Materials like scissors, drips, used needles and razors are some of the examples of the most common healthcare waste produced by the afore-mentioned facilities.
When such waste materials are disposed of illegally and negligently, serious implications are prone to impact the environment through soil and water pollution. Such illegal waste disposal practices also negatively impact citizens at large as they have the potential to cause the spread of various illnesses.
The Municipal Council of Manzini has an incinerator and it is the only institution in the City of Manzini that is mandated to treat and dispose of hazardous waste. Medical health facilities are required to work closely with the municipality to ensure that the waste generated is properly disposed.
Crime
The municipality would like to inform general members of the public and medical facilities that it is a serious crime to haphazardly dispose of healthcare risk waste in the City of Manzini. Anyone found to have violated the regulations runs the risk of being fined a maximum of E50 000.
Stakeholders are also notified that hazardous waste is collected twice a week by the municipality; on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Medical health facilities in the City of Manzini are expected to adhere to the following requirements;
n Whenever one opens a health facility in the city, they are required to inform the Municipality so that they can be guided on what is expected of them; particularly with regard to issues of healthcare risk waste management.
n The payable fee for collection of healthcare risk waste is E200 per month; regardless of the volume of healthcare risk waste generated. Provide a lockable risk waste cage within the premises of the facility; from which the Municipality will be able to safely collect the waste.
n Collect from the municipality a form that will guide you to separate the different types of waste generated.
For example, needles must be separated from razor blades.
n Label each and every type of waste to be disposed by stating the name of the material, name of the facility, name of the person facilitating the waste disposal as well as the date.
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