The protective gear used by Calcuttans who have not tested positive for Covid-19 but could be asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus are being disposed of with other items in the absence of a waste segregation policy, waste disposal specialists have said.

The gear such as masks, gloves and face shields, which may contain viruses spewed up by asymptomatic carriers, have been piling up at the Dhapa dumping ground every day, posing a risk to public health.

Experts said the Calcutta Municipal Corporation had yet to introduce waste segregation at source across the city and all kinds of waste were now packed together and dumped in carts every morning.

The Telegraph had on June 17 reported that the CMC had decided to place yellow bins for people to throw their used masks, gloves and head covers in them.

On Thursday, Atin Ghosh, a member of the CMC’s board of administrators, said the civic body had placed orders for such bins and a few had already been installed. He, however, could not say where the bins had been placed.

The Solid Waste Management Rules 2016 calls for segregating waste generated by households into three categories — biodegradable, non-biodegradable and domestic hazardous waste. Had the rules been implemented in the city, used gloves and masks would not have mixed with other waste and dumped at the same site together, the specialists said.

Municipal solid waste cleaners and rag pickers, who rummage through the waste at Dhapa, are at risk of contracting the virus and spreading it within their communities.

“Public health specialists are saying that a large number of people infected by the coronavirus remain asymptomatic. This creates a new challenge for handling the waste generated by these people…. Everyone should be treated as a potential carrier and the masks, gloves and other Covid gear used by them should be collected separately,” said Sourabh Manuja, a fellow with the Centre for Waste Management at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Manuja said cities with a proper waste segregation policy were better placed than others to face the challenge.

“The 2016 rules define domestic hazardous waste as used needles, syringes and contaminated gauges. No one thought about masks or gloves then. But by the same logic, masks and gloves, too, come under the domestic hazardous waste category,” he said.

The CMC has introduced waste segregation in 27 of the 144 wards. But waste is only segregated into two categories — biodegradable (wet waste) and non-biodegradable (dry waste). There is no such category as domestic hazardous waste. The biodegradable waste is collected every day and the non-biodegradable waste once in a few days.

“I would suggest that the CMC distribute bags to all households for people to keep used masks, gloves and other shields in them,” said Anirban Dalui, a public health specialist. “The civic authorities should educate its waste collectors about how to collect such waste without exposing themselves to the risk of infection.”

Some public health specialists pointed out that even if the CMC placed the yellow waste bins across the city, it was doubtful how many people would dump their used gear in them in the absence of a culture of segregating waste. Besides, some specialists said, the scheme could only be successful if there was a widespread campaign.