The daily disposal capacity of medical waste in Wuhan, center of the coronavirus epidemic, has increased to 261.7 tonnes from 50 tonnes before the outbreak. Medical waste was disposed strictly at the incineration plant with no contact to the ground to curb the spread of the virus. 

The plant has to deal with 2,300 bins of medical waste weighting 34.5 tonnes per day. During peak periods, 26 medical transport trucks, 97 processional workers and 6,800 waste bins were deployed to collect and deliver medical waste from 80 or more designated hospitals and clinics. 

After disinfecting ions on the carriers, the waste will be sent to furnaces for pyrolysis and gasification incineration at a temperature of 1,150 degrees centigrade. The slags left will be land-filled as general household garbage after passing the heavy metal detection, and the fly-ash from the incineration will be further absorbed by activated carbon or slaked lime and cured before being sent to qualified authority for centralized disposal. The environment departments will monitor the smoke emissions for 24 hours to ensure it is within standards. 

"We have worked 12 to 15 hours per day since January, with 144 bins of medical waste to deliver at its peak", said Shi Yiyin, one of the workers."Now it's much better, only 10 hours are required due to the relief of the epidemic."

"Though scared at first, none of us have flinched", said Shi's co-worker Chen Xiaofen. "We are also Wuhan people, we should be strong and make our own contributions to our hometown."

 (Compiled by Shan Xin)