People's livelihood, health is the most important. Ensuring safety and health is the most basic right of consumers. Therefore, the state has strict supervision over medical waste that is directly related to people's physical health and environmental safety, promotes centralized harmless disposal of medical waste, and prohibits any unit or individual from transferring, buying and selling medical waste. However, there is still a black industrial chain in this field...

In a factory in Zi'an Township, Puyang County, Henan Province, a large number of used infusion bottles, infusion bags and other medical waste are piled up. Many medical wastes still have residual medicine. The labels on them show that most of these medical wastes come from surrounding hospitals.

In addition to infusion bottles and infusion bags, there are also a small number of infusion tubes, disposable syringes and other medical wastes.

According to China's "Medical Waste Management Regulations" and relevant regulations, infusion bottles and infusion bags must be recycled and processed by units with relevant qualifications. Infusion tubes, disposable syringes, etc. are medical wastes and must be handed over to units with relevant qualifications for centralized incineration and other harmless disposal, and cannot be reused.

In response, Mr. Shi, the person in charge of the crushing material processing plant in Puyang City, Henan Province, admitted that he did not have the relevant qualifications.

Reporter: Do you need any environmental impact assessment for the crushing part?

Mr. Shi, the person in charge of the crushing material processing plant in Puyang City, Henan Province: Yes.

Reporter: Did you do any environmental impact assessment?

Mr. Shi, the person in charge of the crushing material processing plant in Puyang City, Henan Province: No.

In order to evade inspection, Mr. Shi dispersed the locations for processing medical waste to three or four places, secretly processed these medical wastes into what the industry calls crushed materials, and then sold them to downstream companies.

The sewage generated by cleaning medical waste is mixed with various drug residues and exudes a pungent smell. It is directly discharged into the big pit beside the wall.

Reporter: Is your water seeping directly into the ground?

Mr. Shi, the person in charge of the crushing material processing plant in Puyang City, Henan Province: It will be used to irrigate the land when it is full, and it will not be a problem.

In Qianchang Village, Tangmiao Town, Yuncheng, Shandong Province, in an ordinary farmyard, bundles of plastic infusion bottles, infusion bags and other medical waste are placed.

These medical wastes are also processed into crushed materials. Boss Zhao admitted that he did not have any qualifications. The wastewater from cleaning the crushed materials, mixed with medicine, was directly discharged into the field along this canal.

Reporter: Where do you discharge this water?

Boss Zhao, head of the crushed material processing workshop in Yuncheng County, Shandong Province: It is always in that ditch. It seeps down a little bit and seeps slowly.

In Lingkou Town, Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, an abandoned pig farm is also a medical waste processing point. As soon as the reporter entered the door, the workers immediately became alert.

Reporter: What are you afraid of?

Workers in the crushed material processing workshop in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province: I'm afraid that the police station will come.

A large number of used infusion tubes are piled on the ground, and bags of used infusion tubes are also piled in the aisles and yards.

In addition to infusion tubes, there are also syringes, blood bags and other medical waste.

These medical wastes, which should have been centrally disposed of harmlessly, are also processed into crushed materials waiting to be sold here. The person in charge told reporters that there are several companies in the nearby villages that process crushed materials for infusion tubes, with a monthly processing volume of 20 to 30 tons, which is almost equivalent to the total amount of waste infusion tubes generated by a medium-sized city medical institution every month.

Li Chuanjie, a crushed material distributor in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province: We are all dumping materials here, all from other places.

In several waste plastic markets in Hebei, medical waste crushed materials, even medical waste such as infusion tubes, are bought and sold here at will.

In order to prevent the spread of diseases, protect the environment and safeguard human health, China has formulated a number of regulations and systems, including the "Regulations on the Management of Medical Waste". However, reporters found in Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei and other places that many practitioners are secretly processing and disposing medical waste such as plastic infusion bottles and infusion bags, and even medical waste such as infusion tubes and disposable syringes.

Practitioners are very clear that the wastewater from cleaning medical waste is mixed with medicine, which is bound to pollute the surrounding environment and even groundwater.

Li Chuanjie, a crushing material distributor in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province: It is medical waste, with all kinds of medicines, and it will be polluted if it flows underground.

Knowing that there are hazards, some practitioners still take risks because they can earn a profit of about 1,000 yuan per ton of crushing material.

What products will be made of medical waste and even crushed materials processed from medical waste? The reporter continued to track and investigate.

In Hebei, the factory door was locked. Walking into the factory, there were a lot of broken materials piled up inside. The boss introduced that these raw materials were mixed with broken materials such as infusion bottles and fast food boxes, and there were also fragments of disposable syringes in the middle.

After simple processing, these broken materials became this kind of white plastic particles, commonly known as recycled materials in the industry.

Boss Zhao, head of the Hebei Province Recycled Granule Processing Factory: One truck a day, 11 or 12 tons.

The reporter found in many places that there are factories that specialize in processing recycled materials with broken medical waste.

Boss Pu of the Recycled Granule Processing Workshop in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province: There are many companies in Hebei that make hanging bottle materials, there should be dozens of them.

Reporter: Now according to your understanding, what proportion of those who make this kind of hanging bottle materials have procedures?

Boss Pu of the Recycled Granule Processing Workshop in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province: Too few, that's too few, basically very, very few.

Similarly, the wastewater generated by processing recycled granules is directly discharged into the ground without any treatment.

These recycled materials made of medical waste such as infusion bottles and infusion bags, and even mixed with disposable syringes and other medical waste, are yellowish and grayish in color compared to new materials because the drug residues cannot be thoroughly cleaned. So, what products will these recycled materials with drug residues eventually be made into? The reporter continued to track the downstream of this black industry chain.

Several bosses of recycled granules in Hebei told reporters that most of the recycled granules they produce here are processed into plastic mesh bags by downstream companies.

Reporter: Does anyone use this to make vegetable bags? This?

Worker at a recycled granule processing factory in Hebei Province: Basically 80% of them do this.

Reporter: Where are these goods sent to?

Worker at a recycled granule processing factory in Hebei Province: Shandong, Renqiu, and also to Henan, Shijiazhuang.

According to the clues provided by practitioners, the reporter came to a company specializing in the production of vegetable mesh bags in Renqiu, Hebei Province.

The workshop was busy with production, and the raw materials used to produce mesh bags were piled up in the corner.

Reporter: Your old materials are also mixed with multiple materials, right?

The person in charge of the mesh bag processing factory in Renqiu, Hebei Province: Yes, yes.

Reporter: Is this PP (polypropylene) or PE (polyethylene)?

The person in charge of the mesh bag processing factory in Renqiu, Hebei Province: PP (polypropylene).

The person in charge admitted that he would add recycled materials in a certain proportion according to customer needs. He told reporters that although the factory is not large in scale, the number of vegetable mesh bags produced every day is as high as more than 100,000, which are sold all over China.

The reporter visited many companies in the local area and found that it is very common to produce vegetable mesh bags with waste medical recycled materials.

Because such recycled materials are tough and cheap, in addition to vegetable net bags, many plastic products will use them, and the products produced are varied.

The person in charge of the recycled granule processing plant: Baskets are made of this kind. Wash basins, and sanitary basins.

Recycled granule dealers: Those who make basins, buckets, and daily necessities.

The person in charge of the crushed material processing workshop: Convenient bags used in supermarkets, especially thick ones.

The person in charge of the recycled granule processing plant: A kind of suspended floor in kindergartens, which can be flushed with water every day. After flushing, children can climb on it and play on it.

Boss Zhang of the recycled granule processing plant: To put it bluntly, medicine bottles use this.

The person in charge of the crushed material processing plant: Disposable water cups.

This company in Linyi, Shandong, mainly produces various children's toys. The person in charge admitted that waste medical recycled materials are often used to make children's toys here.

The state stipulates that even for those uncontaminated and recyclable wastes, hospitals must complete the handover, registration and statistics with renewable resource recycling units to ensure that the processing process is safe and traceable.

However, medical waste, which should be strictly regulated, has flowed from hospitals to the market, from used infusion bags and syringes to daily necessities and toys. This industrial chain is very long, covering a wide range of regions and involving many regulatory links. This makes it even more necessary for governments and regulatory departments at all levels to truly take responsibility, leave their mark on the stones and make their mark on the iron, so that violators have nowhere to hide in the sun.

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