Handbook of Emergency Disposal and Management of Medical Waste in China

By Chunxia Guo and Yang Chen

This Handbook is a systematic and complete introduction that outlines the key points and requirements of medical waste's emergency disposal and management. It covers all stages of medical waste removal, from its generation, collection, classification, packaging identification, transportation, treatment to its final disposal. Additionally, this book covers medical waste-related technologies and management essentials used in disease prevention, as well as environmental pollution prevention. The Handbook is particularly useful for facilities and institutions that generate and dispose of medical waste, as well as for the relevant supervisors and environmental protection volunteers at all levels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royal Collins Publishing Company
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781487804763

Book preview

Handbook of Emergency Disposal and Management of Medical Waste in China

Chen Yang and Guo Chunxia

First English Edition 2020

By Royal Collins Publishing Group Inc.

BKM ROYALCOLLINS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED

www.royalcollins.com

Original Edition © Henan Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd.

This English edition is co-published with Henan Science & Technology Press.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the written permission from the publisher.

Copyright © Royal Collins Publishing Group Inc.

Groupe Publication Royal Collins Inc.

BKM ROYALCOLLINS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED

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ISBN: 978-1-4878-0475-6 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-4878-0476-3 (e-book)

List of Contributors

Contributing Authors:

Wang Shuyan, Zhou Xiaoli, Yang Junjie, Yang Limin, Liu Dejie, Li Xue, Zhang Yuanxun, Feng Qinzhong, Wang Junfeng, Li Yue Shan, Shujuan Chen, Yining Cheng, Liang Sun Ning, Xu Qingbo, Wei Huili, Cheng Fuxing, Dong Mei Wang, Zhanxi Zhou, Huanyu Sun, Fangji Wang, Lili Wu, Tongchun Zhao, Yongjun

CHEN YANG, professor at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences with a focus on technological R&D, management system building and industry development of the needs of hazardous and medical waste management and disposal in China. With experience presiding over more than 30 national key programs funded by Chinese Ministry of Ecology Environment, Ministry of Sciences and technology and Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc., he is the owner of more than 30 patents, and author of 8 monographs and more than 60 papers as well as is the winner of 8 ministerial science and technology awards. Since the SARS outbreak in 2003, he has been involved in the implementation and Development of National Standard and technology management system for hazardous waste and medical waste management and disposal in China and as a member of the core consultant group, Environmentally Sustainable Management of Medical Wastes in China funded by GEF from 2005 to 2008, he has supported Chinese sustainable management of medical waste. He has also participated in the drafting of more than 20 related Chinese national technical policies, with standards and specifications over 20 years. Additionally, he participated in the drafting of Technical Guidelines on the Emergency Disposal of Medical Wastes from the Treatment of 2019-nCov (On Trial) during novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic. Furthermore, as editor in chief, he compiled and published the book of Optimal Disposal Technology and Application of Medical Waste that served as a summary of the development and experience of medical waste management and disposal in China during SARS outbreak in 2003.

GUO CHUNXIA, has been engaged in solid waste management in the Department of Ecology and Environment of Henan Province since 1999. She is currently the director and senior engineering professor at the Henan Provincial Solid Waste and Chemical Technology Management Center. The title, The Solid Waste Environmental Management Series with her as the major author, has been awarded with the Excellent Textbook of the Chinese Ministry of EcHenan Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations, Guidelines for Henan Hazardous Waste Standardized Management and Guidelines for Technical Review of Henan Hazardous Waste Business Certificate, of The Ecology and Environment and the First Prize of Henan Provincial level for Popularization of Science. She has also authored Handbook on Hazardous Waste Management in Key Industries and participated as the project manager in the Global Environment Facility’s Provincial Demonstration Project on Comprehensive Management and Cooperative Disposal of Medical Wastes and the Henan Solid Waste Management Capacity Building Project, as well as led the establishment of a Hazardous Waste Management Platform, and the drafting of Henan Solid Waste Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations, Guidelines for Henan Hazardous Waste Standardized Management and Guidelines for Technical Review of Henan Hazardous Waste Business Certificate.

Preface

Major infectious diseases are the common enemies of all mankind, posing a great threat to public life and health, and a daunting challenge to the public’s global health security. The outbreak of COVID-19 has marked an unusual beginning to 2020 for the world and especially so, for China. With the largest population and the earliest large-scale outbreak in the world, Chinese people under the strong support from the leadership and the government, are proud to say that to this day, we have fought a hard and successful battle against the epidemic outbreak.

President Xi Jinping promptly instructed the public by saying, Epidemic is the order. The prevention and control is our responsibility, calling for confidence and unity among the people as well as scientific and precise measures on prevention and treatment, and a joint defense and control mechanism that stressed openness and transparency through national mobilization. Aiming for the safe disposal of medical waste during the epidemic, experts and scholars in the field of environmental protection in China, immediately put themselves into the front-line fight against the epidemic and wrote the authoritative, accurate and popular Guidelines for Emergency Disposal and management of Medical Waste in China (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The targeted readers of the Guidelines are facilities and institutions that generate and dispose of medical waste, as well as relevant supervisors and environmental protection volunteers at all levels. It is aimed to provide convenient and reliable operational guidelines for front-line operational staff to dispose of medical waste and to prevent secondary pollution caused by improper disposal.

The accumulation and disposal of medical waste is a common problem facing all countries in the world. With the lessons and experience gained from SARS in 2003, China has made admirable progress and achievements in its waste disposal systems and technologies. Since 2003, more than 30 laws, regulations, standards and specifications related to the emergency management of medical waste have been promulgated. For emergency medical waste disposal, the incineration technology is adopted as a preferential method, while other disposal technologies are also used when necessary. At the same time, a comprehensive disposal mode has been established featuring local disposal, outward transport disposal and local emergency disposal. All localities adjust themselves to local conditions in the application of various emergency disposal equipment such as mobile treatment equipment, hazardous waste incineration equipment, household waste incineration furnaces and industrial kilns for medical waste disposal. The current emergency medical waste disposal system features the combination of centralized disposal and on-site emergency disposal of medical waste performed by infectious disease hospitals and designated hospitals for treating influenza patients, as well as emergency centers or stations.

Medical waste generated during the epidemic is infectious and hazardous. Improper management and disposal can directly endanger the life of front-line personnel. The Chinese government attaches great importance to the disposal of medical waste during the epidemic. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China and other departments have issued normative documents such as the Guidelines for Management and Technologies of Emergency Disposal of Medical Wastes During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic (On Trial), the Emergency Surveillance Plan for the Response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, and Notification on the Management of Medical Waste in Medical Institutions during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic. These documents provide timely and effective guidance for emergency disposal of medical waste and its environmental supervision, and set forth basic working principles and requirements for the prevention of secondary environmental disasters caused by the epidemic.

Challenged by the public’s insufficient understanding of the epidemic, lack of