Call for probe into whether Scots clinical waste containing body parts has been exported to Sri Lanka
Posted on August 4th, 2019
Courtesy The Daily Reord
Thirty tons of clinical waste from Scottish hospitals was reported missing after the collapse of Lanarkshire-based disposal contractor HES last year.
Sri Lankan customs officials inspect containers from the UK
The Scottish Government has been urged to investigate whether clinical waste including body partscould have been exported to Sri Lanka.
Labour MSP Monica Lennon has written to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman after 100 shipping containers from the UK containing toxic materials were discovered at the port of Colombo.
The sickening cargo is understood to have been mixed with legitimate recyclable material that had been sent to south Asia for processing.
About 30 tons of clinical waste from Scottish hospitals was reported missing after the collapse of Lanarkshire-based disposal contractor HES last year.
The company was stripped of its NHS contract in December after huge stockpiles built up at its base in Shotts.
NHS contingency measures have seen toxic material put into storage around the country as well as being sent to processing plants in England.
Shadow health secretary Lennon’s letter, which has also been sent to the SNP’s Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, has called for action to establish whether any Scottish waste could have ended up leaving the UK.
It states: It is understood that Sri Lankan authorities discovered more than 100 shipping containers filled with hospital waste, body parts, mattresses and plastics originating from the UK and that some of the containers have been in the country for more than two years.
This is troubling news and the Scottish public would be horrified if clinical waste from Scotland has ended up in Sri Lanka, or indeed in any other country. I would be grateful, therefore, if you could confirm when the Scottish Government became aware of the Sri Lanka-UK clinical waste scandal, what information ministers have received and what action you and your officials have taken in response.”
HES collapsed with the loss of hundreds of jobs after the NHS pulled contracts it claimed the firm was failing to fulfil.
Spanish-based firm Tradebe has been lined up to take over the contract.
Workers in Sri Lanka first became suspicious after discovering strong smells from shipping containers that had arrived in Colombo. The Central Environment Authority said: The waste material brought to the country under the guise of mattresses from the UK is extremely hazardous.”
The UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has launched an investigation.
The Scottish Government said: We have no reason to believe clinical waste from Scotland was disposed of in Sri Lanka. All health boards must handle all categories of waste in a safe and appropriate fashion.”