Assam has a large number of health care institutions. The no. of Hospitals and Nursing Homes in the Towns with Population below 30 lacs with 500 beds and above are 3 (three); 200 beds and above are 5(five), 50 beds and above are 47 (Forty seven) and less than 50 beds are 427(four hundred twenty seven). The State Pollution Control Board, Assam is the Prescribed Authority in the State to implement the Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998.
| (a) | Every occupier of an institution generating, collecting, receiving, storing, transporting, treating, disposing, and/or handling bio-medical waste in any other manner, except such as occupier of clinics, dispensaries, pathological laboratories, blood banks providing treatment/service to less than 1000 (one thousand) patients per month shall make an application in Form I to the prescribed authority for grant of authorization. |
| (b) | Every operator of bio-medical waste facility shall make an application in Form I to the prescribed authority for grant of authorization. |
| (c) | Every application in Form I for grant of authorization shall be accompanied by a fee as prescribed by the State Government. |
The Board has so far identified nearly 482 biomedical waste generators in the State. These institutions are required to obtain the Authorisation of the Board and provide adequate facilities for collection, segregation, treatment and disposal of biomedical wastes.
It is the duty of all occupiers to obtain Authorisation from the Board as per the Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. The application form is obtainable free of cost from the Board offices or can be downloaded from the website. Application for Authorisation is to be submitted with prescribed fee as Demand Draft in favour of the Member Secretary, Pollution Control Board, Assam payable at Guwahati. Conditions regarding segregation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal, monitoring, maintenance of records and submission of reports are laid down in the Authorisation.
Every occupier of an institution generating biomedical waste has to take all steps to ensure that such wastes are handled without any adverse effect to human health and the environment.
Every occupier /operator shall submit an annual report to the State Pollution Control Board in Form-II by 31st January every year to conclude information about the categories and quantities of bio-medical wastes handled during the proceeding year. The State Board shall send this information in a compiled form to the Central Pollution Control Board by 31st March every year.
As per the Rules the wastes coming under ten categories are to be placed in four different coloured containers/ bags. The wastes have to be treated using techniques such as deep burial, incineration, autoclaving, micro waving, mutilation, shredding and chemical disinfection. The treatment and disposal facilities in most hospitals are inadequate.
| Sl. No. | No. of beds | Fee (in Rs.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | With 500 beds and above | 2,00,000.00 |
| 2 | With 200 beds and above but less than 500 beds | 1,50,000.00 |
| 3 | With 50 beds and above but less than 200 beds | 1,00,000.00 |
| 4 | Wiht less than 50 beds | 50,000.00 |
| 5 | All other institution generating bio-medical waste not included above. | 40,000.00 |
| Option | Waste Category | Treatment & Disposal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Category No. 1 | Human Anatomical Waste(human tissues, organs, body parts) | Incineration/ deep burial |
| Category No. 2 | Animal Waste(animal tissues, organs, body parts concusses, bleeding parts fluid blood and experimental animals used in research, waste generated by veterinary hospitals colleges, discharge from hospitals, animal houses) | Incineration/ deep burial |
| Category No. 3 | Microbiology & Biotechnology Waste(Wastes from the laboratory cultures, stocks or specimens of microorganisms live or attenuated vaccines, human and animal cell culture used in research and infectious agents from research and industrial laboratories, wastes from production of biological toxins, dishes and devices used for transfer of cultures.) | Local autoclaving/ microwaving/incineration |
| Category No. 4 | Waste sharps(needles, syringes, scalpels, blades, glass, etc. that may cause puncture and cuts. This includes both used and unused sharps.) | Disinfection (chemical treatment/ autoclaving/ microwaving and mutilation/ shredding. |
| Category No. 5 | Discarded Medicines and Cytotoxic drugs(wastes comprising of outdated, contaminated and discarded medicines) | Incineration/destruction and drugs disposal in secured landfills. |
| Category No. 6 | Soiled Waste(items contaminated with blood, and body fluids including cotton, dressings, soiled plaster casts, lines, bedding, other material contaminated with body) | Incineration /autoclaving / microwaving |
| Category No. 7 | Solid Waste(wastes generated from disposable items other than the waste sharps such as tubing, catheters, intravenous sets etc.) | Disinfection by chemical treatment, autoclaving / microwavingand mutilation / shredding. |
| Category No. 8 | Liquid Waste(waste generated from laboratory and washing, cleaning, house keeping and disinfecting activities.) | Disinfection by chemical treatment and discharge into drains. |
| Category No. 9 | Incineration Ash(ash from incineration of any bio-medical waste) | Disposal in municipal landfill. |
| Category No. 10 | Chemical Waste(chemicals used in production of biological, chemicals used in disinfection as insecticides, etc.) | Chemical treatment and discharge into drains for liquids and secured landfill for solids. |
| COLOUR CODING | TYPE OF CONTAINER | WASTE CATEGORY | TREATMENT OPTIONS AS PER Schedule I. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow | Plastic bag | Cat. 1, Cat. 2, Cat. 3, & Cat. 6 | Incineration / deep burial |
| Red | Disinfected container / plastic bag | Cat. 3, Cat. 6, Cat. 7. | Autoclaving / Microwaving / chemical Treatment. |
| Blue / white translucent | Plastic bag / puncture proof container | Cat. 4, Cat. 7 | Autoclaving / Microwaving / chemical Treatment and destruction / shredding. |
| Black | Plastic bag | Cat. 5 and Cat. 9 and Cat.10(solid) | Disposal in secured landfill. |