A volunteer garbage collector in Prachuap Khiri Khan, Suthep Naktang spotted a lot of used surgical masks left on beaches in the province, which added to piles of trash he and his volunteer group collects everyday. The same happened in the northern province of Kamphaeng Phet, where people found discarded surgical masks, used tissue paper and disposed medical gloves littering Sirijit Park. Even in Bangkok, a street sweeper reportedly said she found up to five discarded surgical masks on the street every day.
A new necessity during the novel coronavirus outbreak, protective masks evidently become waste masks in many places across the country. In March, the Department of Pollution Control indicated that during the coronavirus outbreak, there were 1-2 million discarded medical masks found on a daily basis across Thailand. In the capital city alone, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) found that from January until March, there was an average of around 41 tonnes of infectious waste per day, of which around 1.7 was reported to be waste from Covid-19 patients, Covid-19 suspects, and quarantine facilities, including surgical masks and other contaminated items from 29 hospitals and a public healthcare centre.
Environmental expert Sonthi Kotchawat of the Thai Academic Environment Association and Chadsanan Masawangphairojana, founder of waste management start-up GooGreens, agreed that discarded masks can be considered infectious waste. To define "infectious waste", Sonthi cited the 2002 announcement from the Ministry of Public Health.
"Infectious waste means solid waste that contains diseases with sufficient virulence and in sufficient quantity. When a person is exposed to or goes near such a waste, it can cause the development of an infectious disease," said Sonthi, also guest lecturer on environment and public health.
"Face masks should be treated like infectious waste. They can be contaminated with bodily fluids such as saliva and mucus," Sonthi added.
What's problematic is that many people are not aware that used surgical masks should actually be treated specially, given that now discarded masks can still be seen and left unattended in public areas. What will happen if there are a lot of discard masks in the environment?
"People use both surgical masks and reusable cloth masks. Cloth masks used by non-Covid patients can be washed and reused. However, masks with waterproof layers are coated with plastic and cannot be recycled. Used surgical masks should be separated from other trash and incinerated properly at waste management stations. Like other plastics, masks don't decompose. They will break down into small pieces and pollute the environment like microplastics," said Chadsanan.
Special bins for infectious waste. Photo: Chaiyot Pupattapapong
Sonthi echoed the idea that discarded masks are infectious waste and must be incinerated directly.
"Surgical masks consist of polyethylene or polypropylene, which are plastics and [slow] to decompose. Many people throw their used masks into municipal solid waste. The masks may be contaminated with bodily fluids of the possibly infected. Since coronavirus can persist in the air for several hours, garbage collectors are at risk of being exposed to the virus. And when that waste is left at open dumping sites, waste-pickers are at risk of being infected as well," said Sonthi.
Thailand always falls short of sufficient measures for a healthy environment, unlike countries such as China, where the Chinese authority has implemented a specific measure to handle discarded masks properly.
"China has a regulation which specifies that discarded masks must be disposed in red bins, which are provided in community areas, and that people must fold their used masks in bags before putting them in those red bins which are monitored by CCTV. In Shanghai, if people throw used masks into the wrong bin, they will be subject to a fine of 200 yuan [900 baht]. If companies or organisations violate the law, they will face a fine of 5,000-50,000 yuan. The trash will be sorted by officers who wear personal protective equipment [PPE] suits and will be sent to incinerators," Sonthi explained.
In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Public Health has implemented a management measure for waste that comes from possibly infected cases and the cleaning of possibly infected areas.
"The Ministry of Public Health in the United Kingdom stated that contaminated items such as used tissue paper and masks must be placed in a tied-up bag. The bag will then be put in the second tied-up bag. The waste must be stored safely and kept away from children for at least 72 hours before being put in a communal bin," the environmental expert added.
To handle discarded masks properly, permanent secretary of Thailand's Ministry of Interior Chatchai Phromlert signed an urgent official letter with regard to waste management measures during the Covid-19 pandemic to provincial governors nationwide. Yet there is no punishment for those who violate the measure.
"The measure is to urge people to place discarded medical and cloth masks in separate bags from other garbage. The bags must be tied up and labelled to let garbage collectors know that items inside the bags are used masks, or people can drop the bags in red bins, which are provided in public places. The Ministry of Interior tried to get special bins for infectious waste. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration also provided special bins in 174 areas. Nevertheless, other local administrations didn't know how to handle discarded masks, so they told people to collect masks and leave them at community hospitals or public healthcare centres. Most people aren't going to do that," Sonthi said.
Garbage collectors can be at risk of infection if used masks are not handled properly. Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut
"Separating used protective masks and labelling them as 'used masks' enables garbage collectors to notice and take them to an incinerator. The masks will be burned in 1,200 degrees Celsius, which can kill diseases. If you just throw away used masks in your dustbin, garbage collectors or other people may be in trouble due to the virus," Chadsanan said
After throwing masks in special bins, we expect all infectious waste to be treated properly at waste stations. But are there enough incinerators in Thailand?
"BMA has only two incinerators, which are located in On Nut and Nong Khaem. Each can handle only 60 tonnes of waste per day. Some municipal offices and industrial estates have incinerators for infectious waste of their own, but that is not enough," said Sonthi.
Chadsanan, nonetheless, believes the problem doesn't lie in the number of incinerators the country has. Yet the sorting system is the actual point of concern.
"The problem is that infectious waste isn't separated properly. So it isn't even taken to incinerators," said Chadsanan.
While not all Thais have a waste-sorting mindset, Chadsanan urged the government to encourage people to do waste-sorting by providing them an incentive.
"GooGreens provides an incentive to condominium residents who do waste sorting. They are rewarded with either cashback or vouchers, so they are willing to do it. The government should provide incentives for people who sort waste and provide them discounted fees at government agencies or discounted taxes. In Indonesia, bus tickets can be exchanged for plastic waste," Chadsanan suggested.
"In this situation, we shouldn't waste any resources. To save medical masks and decrease waste, I recommend everyone wrap it with cloths before wearing it, so we can reuse medical masks. The cloth can be washed and reused as well," said Chadsanan.
