2024-04-17 16:11:16
BOLZANO. Every year tens of thousands of masks, protective suits and gloves are thrown away by the South Tyrolean Health Authority. «Disposed of because they expired», clarifies the provincial health councilor Hubert Messner.
Many of these personal protective devices for the local health authority are formally free, but not for the public sector, given that they were provided by the Civil Protection or donated by Agenas, the national agency for regional health services. So, obviously, they still have a cost for the community. So what, he asked himself Consigliere provinciale della South Tyrolean Freedom Hannes Rabensteiner, instead of disposing of them, couldn’t we perhaps use them for non-health purposes? Like for example in agriculture, in workshops, in artisan laboratories, in factories, even in technical and professional schools? If it were legally possible, there would be clear economic and environmental benefits. Messner replied that there is no impediment, but so far there is no news that the expired ASL devices have been sold and used elsewhere.
Impressive data
Rabensteiner presented a question to the provincial council, to which councilor Messner responded, providing the documentation district by district. Sifting through the lists provided by the South Tyrolean ASL warehouses, we find rather impressive data, although probably not exhaustive of the real situation in the last five years, as requested by Stf, and not shown in a single clear synoptic table.
Bolzano district
In Bolzano, in 2022 the following were disposed of: 600 Ffp3 masks with Cleanbreath valve; 30,290 disposable surgical masks, 39,360 Kn95 masks; 25,517 XXL size protective suits. In 2024, the following were sent for disposal: 1,800 PPE III protection suits, category XXL size, paid by the ASL for 28,161 euros; 900 long sleeve gloves in size M plus 12,400 in size L, paid 1,563.01 euros; 2,000 XL size gloves costing 226.94 euros; 250 protective suits in size L, 125 in size XL and 829 in size XXL for a total cost of 18,753.31 euros; 56,600 size S gloves worth 5,144.94 euros. These devices that expired in 2024 have not yet been physically disposed of.
Bressanone district
Things didn’t go any better in Bressanone. In 2023 alone, the following went to disposal: 32,000 disposable surgical masks, 2,610 category III PPE protection suits, size XL, costing 40,216.67 euros; 3,775 Kn95 masks; 650 XL protective suits costing 10,015.64 euros; 2,350 XXL size protective suits costing 36,765.75 euros. Some of these expired devices have not yet been physically disposed of and have now been stored as a precaution, awaiting legal and technical checks on their possible use in non-healthcare settings.
Merano district
In Merano between 2019 and 2021 there were no disposals. In 2022, 2,816 protective suits were disposed of. In 2023, 1,860 FFP3 masks costing 1,269.45 euros were disposed of.
Brunico district
In Brunico from 2019 to 2023, 14,150 disposable surgical masks and 650 surgical masks for children were disposed of due to expiry.
The proposal
«In recent years, tens of thousands of medical masks and protective suits have ended up in the garbage because they had reached their expiry date. This is bad for the environment and for taxpayers”, says Rabensteiner. The STF therefore proposes that expired protection devices be transferred for “harmless” applications in a simple and non-bureaucratic way. Rabensteiner therefore suggests distributing these protective devices: «A large part of them could be used in craftsmanship, for example as dust masks. Protective suits could also be used in crafts or agriculture.”
Councilor Messner responded to Rabensteiner’s question by stating that expired protective gear could certainly be used to protect against dust and dirt. Rabensteiner then emphasizes: «Protective equipment is better off in a workshop or on the grass than in the garbage. It would be a service to the public and the environment.”
2024-04-17 16:11:16