Illegal reuse of medical plastic a health risk

EVERY YEAR on International Consumer Rights Day, China Central Television broadcasts a consumer rights protection program. This year's show included a report on a business chain that connects plastic medical waste on one end with plastic articles for everyday use on the other. Beijing News comments:

Were it not for high cost of sterilization, plastic medical waste, which is generally made up of quality polyethylene and polypropylene materials, would be an ideal raw material for recycling.

But if the relevant laws and regulations are ignored and sterilization is omitted, as some workshops have done for a long time, the waste can be turned into profit. This practice unavoidably means plastic contaminated with harmful microorganisms is turned into plastic products that may pose an acute threat to public health.