EcoWaste Coalition Pushes for Waste Segregation at Source to Promote Occupational Safety and Health among Waste Workers as COVID-19 Cases Breach One Million Mark
27 April 2021, Quezon City. As COVID-19 cases in the
country breached the one million mark (with 914,952 recoveries, 16,853 deaths
and 74.623 active cases), a waste and pollution watchdog group called
attention to the necessity of segregating waste at source to protect waste
workers from getting infected.
In a statement issued on the eve of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work
on April 28, the EcoWaste Coalition emphasized the need to separate COVID-19
waste and other pathogenic waste from recyclable and compostable materials to
keep waste workers, especially the informal recyclers, safe from harm caused by
exposure to the novel coronavirus and other pathogens.
“We reiterate our plea to all waste generators to separate discarded
materials at the point of generation to keep our environmental frontliners such
as the waste workers safe from COVID-19 and other diseases,” stated Jove
Benosa, Zero Waste Campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition.
“Used face masks, tissues, wipes and other potentially infectious waste should
not be mixed with other discards and should be properly disposed of to avoid
them from polluting our streets and the oceans,” he said.
While SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is mainly passed on from
person-to-person through respiratory droplets, studies suggest that the virus
can remain on some materials for varying amounts of time, the group said.
"For waste collectors and recyclers," according to the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, "potential sources of exposure include
having close contact with a coworker or member of the public with COVID-19, or
by contacting surfaces touched or handled by a person with COVID-19."
“We therefore need to keep COVID-contaminated waste materials separate from
recyclables and compostables to reduce risk of exposure among waste collectors
and recyclers who often handle trash with minimal protection,” he pointed out.
The lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as protective garments,
gloves, glasses and shoes, the lack of access to water and soap or hand
sanitizers, and the poor compliance to mandatory waste segregation at source
makes the job of waste workers prone to occupational hazards, the group
emphasized.
“To prevent and reduce occupational hazards, we request the public to make
waste segregation a habit, while we ask the local governments and disposal
sites to ensure waste workers’ access to PPE and to hand washing stations with
water and soap or hand sanitizers,” Benosa said.
Recognizing the vulnerability of waste workers to COVID-19 and other diseases,
the EcoWaste Coalition and other environmental groups have come together to
request the government to include waste workers as a priority population group
for the ongoing vaccination program.
“Ensuring early access to COVID-19 vaccine will undeniably
provide health and economic benefits to our waste workers and their families,”
they insisted.
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