Hospital waste crisis looms

Clark Freeport — The plan to shut down the lone engineered sanitary landfill based in Capas, Tarlac will affect some 1,000 hospitals in both North and Central Luzon regions including Metro Manila and it is expected that a massive garbage crisis will be triggered.

According to a group of indignant hospital and toxic waste treaters, the hospital garbage will expose some 1,000 hospital employees including small clinic workers to health hazards which will also affect patients.

Clark Sanitation Services president Danny Abadilla disclosed that the planned closure of the lone toxic waste sanitary landfill site in October would render thousands of hospitals in both regions including Metro Manila, “stuck and helpless” with uncollected hospital waste mounting each day.

“The looming garbage crisis in Central and Northern Luzon regions will not only affect households and industries but will certainly pose major health problems as soon as the government’s plan to close down the engineered sanitary landfill in Capas is implemented,” said Abadilla.

“It’s (Kalangitan landfill) immediate closure is a helpless situation. We cannot collect and process medical and hospital wastes if there are no available and fully compliant sanitary landfill where we could dispose treated wastes,” he added.

Abadilla also revealed that most of these hospital wastes that are coming from the two regions, Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, and as far as Palawan, are treated in their recovery facility before being taken to the Kalangitan Sanitary Landfill which is the only waste facility accredited by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Should BCDA and CDC close the waste facility come October, the stoppage of collecting and treatment of hospital wastes is expected to affect the health of patients and hospital workers in the frontline, and the community,” Abadilla said.