On April 22, 2020, the Official Gazette of the Argentine Republic published Resolution No. 120/20 of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, which establishes the procedure for authorizing manifests for the transportation of pathogenic waste (Y01) generated temporarily by the COVID-19 pandemic in temporary health facilities.
Resolution No. 120/20 (hereinafter the Resolution) establishes that public and/or private health service providers that, through temporary facilities and/or establishments, in response to the health emergency caused by COVID-19, eventually generate hazardous waste (Y1 – Clinical waste resulting from medical care provided in hospitals, medical centers and clinics for human and animal health -) and clinical waste resulting from medical care, must comply with the Procedure for the Authorization of Manifests Law No. 24,051 incorporated into the Resolution as Annex I.
The Procedure for Authorizing Manifests Law No. 24,051 establishes that the holder of the CUIT of the health facility must initiate a file for “Eventual Generation of Hazardous Waste” through the TAD platform (Remote Procedures).
From the list of documentation to be added, all requested files must be replaced by uploading a sworn statement containing the following information:
1- Request for authorization of Manifests with the following text: “Within the framework of the public health emergency, established by Law No. 27,541, Decree No. 260 dated March 12, 2020 and Decree No. 297 dated March 19, 2020, and by virtue of the Pandemic declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in relation to the coronavirus COVID-19, I request AUTHORIZATION FOR THE ISSUE OF TRANSPORT MANIFESTS LAW 24,051 to proceed with the removal of hazardous waste of Category Y01, hazard characteristic H6.2 from the declared address.”
2- Actual address of the establishment: The address of the place where the waste will be generated must be declared.
3- Declaration of compliance with current regulations regarding waste characterized as pathogenic: “By virtue of Annex I, Point A-3 of Resolution 177/17 MAyDS, I declare that the management of the aforementioned hazardous waste and with risk of infectiousness / biological, are segregated, handled and stored in accordance with the guidelines approved by Resolution of the Ministry of Health No. 134/16 and under the current Emergency, proceed according to the procedures for waste management in health care establishments during the covid-19 pandemic of the Ministry of Health destined for Health Teams, published in the Resource Bank of that Ministry: http://www.msal.gob.ar/index.php?option=com_bes_contenidos.”
4- Authorized Transporters and Operators: “I declare that all hazardous waste generated will be delivered only to transporters and operators who have the corresponding authorizations, with the proper legal transport manifest.”
5- Technical representative title: The title of the person responsible for the management of Y01 waste generated in the establishment must be included.
Once the activities at the establishment covered by this authorization have been completed, a request must be made to cancel the activities.
Once the activities at the establishment covered by this authorization have been completed, a request must be made to cancel the activities.
The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation will be responsible for analyzing the information received and issuing the necessary authorizations for the issuance of manifests established in Law No. 24,051.
Finally, the Resolution makes available to provincial authorities and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires the “Procedure for the Authorization of Manifests under Law 24.051” for pathogenic waste whose generation, transit, operation, and/or final disposal take place entirely within their respective jurisdictions.
