SARS epidemic: SARS patients' household waste to be incinerated

All household waste produced by sufferers of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) will eventually be treated at medical waste incinerators together with other infectious waste, according to officials of the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).

At a meeting held by the Legislative Yuan's Sanitation and Environment Committee, as well as the Social Welfare Committee yesterday, KMT Legislator Hou Tsai-feng (侯彩鳳) expressed her concerns over the spread of SARS in Taiwan.

"I'd like to know if any specific project had been come up with to deal with waste produced by both hospitalized and residential SARS patients," Hou said.

EPA head Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that infectious and non-infectious waste produced by SARS would be treated in medical waste incinerators.

"We've sent official documents to local environmental bureaus to alert them to the management of waste produced by SARS patients," Hau said.

Officials of the Department of Health added red plastic bags have been distributed to all isolated residential areas to collect all waste produced by SARS patients.

A few days ago, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released studies which suggest that -- unlike most known respiratory viruses -- the microbe behind SARS can survive up to 24 hours on inanimate objects, turning any surface into a possible point of transmission.

Anything contacted by SARS patients, such as masks, bed sheets, and others, would be collected in red plastic bags, which will be transferred to medical waste incinerators, according to Cheng Tsung-ming (鄭聰明), a senior specialist of the Bureau of Medical Affairs under the DOH.

"Residents should not worry about the waste. Burning such waste at a temperature exceeding 1,000?C make it impossible for the virus to function," Cheng said.

Cheng said that the amount of waste produced by SARS patients is just a tiny part of all medical waste produced by Taiwan daily.

DOH statistics show that Taiwan produces 313 tonnes of medical waste, including 268 tonnes of non-infectious waste and 45 tonnes of infectious waste.

According to Chen Hsiung-wen (陳雄文), director-general of the EPA's Bureau of Solid Waste Management, the total capacity of 19 operational medical waste incinerators island-wide was enough to handle all infectious waste.

"For years, the EPA has strictly demanded that medical waste be incinerated at a temperature exceeding 1,000?C," Chen said.

Other countries hit by the disease have been making similar efforts to treat waste associated with SARS patients.