In a notification dated 10th May 2019, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has issued the Bio-Medical Waste Management (Second Amendment) Rules, 2019 (“Amendment Rules”) to further amend the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 (“Principal Rules”).
The Amendment Rules have added a new Explanation to the Rule 4(d) of the Principal Rules, dealing with the duties of an *Occupier to phase out use of chlorinated plastic bags (excluding blood bags) and gloves by 27th March, 2019.
The newly inserted Explanation states that the expression “Chlorinated plastic bags” would not include urine bags, effluent bags, abdominal bags and chest drainage bags.
Hence, as a result, an Occupier will not be required to phase out use of urine bags, effluent bags, abdominal bags and chest drainage bags as per the Amendment Rules.
*Occupier means a person having administrative control over the institution and the premises generating bio-medical waste, which includes a hospital, nursing home, clinic, dispensary, veterinary institution, animal house, pathological laboratory, blood bank, health care facility and clinical establishment, irrespective of their system of medicine and by whatever name they are called.
Source: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
