GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 27
TO BE ANSWERED ON19.07.2021
Disposal of COVID-19 biomedical waste
27. SMT. VANDANA CHAVAN:

Will the Hon’ble Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be

pleased to state:

(a) steps Government is taking to promote segregation at source and separate waste

collection of COVID-19 and non COVID-19 waste, and ensure efficiency of

incinerators in case this waste is not segregated;

(b) details of monitoring mechanisms at incineration plants to check water and air based

pollution caused by increased biomedical waste;

(c) details of waste generation to incineration capacity, and States that adopted hazardous

waste treatment, storage, and facilities for disposal of biomedical waste, State/UTwise; and

(d) details of steps Government has taken to create awareness and citizen engagement on

disposal of COVID-19 biomedical waste and reduce plastic-pollution due to same?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had notified the

Biomedical Waste Management Rules, 2016 (BMWM Rules, 2016) under Environment

(Protection) Act, 1986, which stipulates source segregation of the Bio-Medical waste

(BMW) into four categories as prescribed under Schedule -I of said Rules. The

respective State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees

(PCCs) implement BMWM Rules, 2016 provisions through issuance of authorisation to

Healthcare Facilities (HCFs) and Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility

(CBWTF) operators. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has prepared

following guidelines on segregation, treatment and disposal of BMW:

 Management of Healthcare Waste in Healthcare Facilities as per Biomedical Waste

Management Rules, 2016;

 Guidelines for Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities; and

 Handling, Treatment and Disposal of Waste Generated during

Treatment/Diagnosis/ Quarantine of COVID-19 Patients

(b) The BMWM Rules, 2016 provisions stipulate the treatment options in respect of sourcesegregated categories under Schedule-I. Similarly, the Schedule-II mandates the

standards prescribed for incinerator stack emission, treated effluent,

autoclave/microwave/hydroclave and chemical disinfection. SPCBs/ PCCs monitor

HCFs and CBWTFs for compliance of prescribed standards of emissions, liquid

effluents and waste. The CPCB also randomly verify the compliance status of HCFs

and CBWTFs and take action on non-compliances as per Rule provisions.

(c) The CPCB has reported that there are 202 operational CBWTFs in the country for

treatment and disposal of BMW. To treat additional COVID-19 BMW during

pandemic, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra had utilized hazardous waste incineratorsfor

disposal of yellow colour coded (incinerable) COVID19 waste,in line with CPCB

Guidelines. The State-wise total BMW generation (COVID as well as non-COVID

waste) and HCF/ CBWTF incineration capacity isprovided below:

State/ Union Territory BMW Generation

(Tonnes/ day)

CBWTF/ HCF Incineration

capacity (Tonnes/day)

Andaman and Nicobar 0.71 –

Andhra Pradesh 22.38 33

Arunachal Pradesh 0.49 –

Assam 9.65 4

Bihar 35.65 26.4

Chandigarh 5.6 4.8

Chhattisgarh 8.07 15

Dadar and Nagar Haveli 0.34 –

Delhi 38.91 37

Goa 1.81 –

Gujarat 49.07 83

Haryana 22.46 39.6

Himachal Pradesh 4.45 5.28

Jammu and Kashmir 9.07 9.84

Jharkhand 6.25 12.2

Karnataka 85.43 90.5

Kerala 59.21 33

Lakshadweep 0.11 –

Madhya Pradesh 24.03 38.4

Maharashtra 83.36 74

Manipur 1.14 2.4

Meghalaya 1.53 0.8

Mizoram 0.97 –

Nagaland 0.99 –

Odisha 22.16 12.36

Puducherry 6.98 5

Punjab 19.36 11.7

Rajasthan 24.2 32.2

Sikkim 0.59 –

Tamil Nadu 70.54 57

Telengana 23.31 47.4

Tripura 1.42 –

Uttarakhand 5.53 3.2

Uttar Pradesh 62.33 74.64

West Bengal 49.52 69.6

TOTAL 757.6 822

(d) The CPCB Guidelines on ‘Handling, Treatment and Disposal of Waste Generated

during Treatment/Diagnosis/ Quarantine of COVID-19 Patients’ stipulates specific

steps for stakeholders to handle COVID-19 waste as mentioned below:

 Personal Protective Equipment’s (PPEs) like masks and gloves used in general

household and commercial places, offices, etc. needs to be kept separately in

paper bag for minimum 72 hours prior to disposal with general waste, after

cutting/ shredding;

 Discarded PPEs at commercial establishments, shopping malls, institutions,

offices, etc. need to be stored in separate bin for 3 days, and thereafter disposed of

as dry general solid waste after cutting/ shredding;

 PPE waste generated at crematoriums / graveyards need to be treated as BMW

and disposed of accordingly, either through HCF staff or Urban Local Body

 These guidelines were issued in very beginning of COVID Pandemic in March,

2020 and the same were revised four times looking at the situation requirement;

Further, information regarding BMW and COVID-19 waste management like Technical

guidelines/ Do’s and Don’t(s)/ Posters/ Videos etc. has been placed in the public

domain for information and awareness of general public.

delines issued by CPCB in respective States.