Police hindering perpetrators from unlawfully recycling hospital waste have arrested three during a crackdown in which various waste from hospitals around Nanjing was sold to an unlicensed group operating out of Qixia district.
The waste, which included urine bags, syringes and blood collection tubes, sold for ¥800 to 1000 a month and was then recycled into toys, tableware and other plastic products.
Police later found that the group had bought more than 3,000 tons of hospital waste, giving off a disgusting stench and worth about ¥40 million. Lucrative as it may be, culprits who seriously harm the environment in China face at least three years in jail and further fines. “China only allows authorised companies specialising in medical waste to engage in such business”, said a policeman surnamed Qi talking with the web portal JS China. “Trained workers, specialised containers and transportation vehicles are required before medical waste is burned and buried in certain sites.”
Furthermore, it is illegal for any hospital to cooperate with unlicensed operators when dealing with medical waste. Hospitals and illegal groups face large consequences for committing such acts. In 2007, a farmer from Sichuan Province named Zhang Xiuqiong was arrested for illegally collecting hazardous medical waste. Investigating Chongqing environmental protection officials, who found 33.9 tons of medical waste inside a residential building, described the scene as “shocking”.
The facility was full of medical waste including blood transfusion bags that still contained blood. It took fifteen medical waste vehicles eight hours to clean up the site. One year later, Zhang was sentenced to three years in jail for illegally collecting medical waste. This case was the first court sentence of such crime in China and is an example of China’s ongoing legal efforts towards improving proper disposal methods of medical waste. Following the arrest of Zhang, six hospitals at Chongqing were fined between ¥20,000 to ¥100,000 though none of them were charged.
Not only has it been found that hazardous medical waste is being recycled into toys and tableware but it has also been discovered that some material can be reused to make plastic disposable eating utensils and threads for winter clothing. This kind of activity is extremely dangerous, as these materials not only contain harmful toxins but the residues of contagious diseases as well. According to Juliet Song of the Epoch Times, a video taken undercover shows one unnamed boss praising the medical waste as “really good stuff”.
Police are continuing the investigation to determine which products and places are connected to the group’s recycling business.
