Gurugram gets dumpsite for expired medicines and discarded medical equipment

Gurugram: Taking cognizance of the health hazards that can be caused by mixing expired medicines with normal domestic waste, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has now allocated a separate dumping space for expired medicines.

Those medicinal products that are beyond their utility can now be dumped at a space in Sector -43. There is also some space created for the dumping of non-COVID-19 medical waste.

According to MCG officials, this waste will come under the category of biomedical waste and will be treated as per the World Health organization (WHO) standards.

As a large number of private super-specialty hospitals are located in the city, there is a generation of large amounts of waste expired medicines and discarded medical equipment.This has increased during the pandemic.

The officials expressed hope that now with a separate dumping space, residents would not mix medical waste with normal waste.

"We were advised long ago that a separate sump site is needed. Mixing was causing harm to stary animals and chemical reactions were leading to poisonous substances being created," said a senior official from MCG.

The MCG officials have begun to spread

awareness to residents and sanitation workers about the new site.