Provinces left with hundreds of thousands of litres of expired hand sanitizer Ottawa sent during pandemic | 24CA News
Provinces are awash with expired hand sanitizer that Ottawa despatched in the course of the top of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal authorities spent $376 million on greater than 20 million litres of hand sanitizer, which the Public Health Agency of Canada distributed all through the pandemic.
But now, most provinces have extra expired sanitizer, and eliminating it via disposal or repurposing comes with a hefty price.
Saskatchewan is anticipating to spend greater than $100,000 to do away with greater than 350,000 litres of hand sanitizer that is sitting in a Regina warehouse. Manitoba spent greater than $462,000 to repurpose its almost 734,000 litres.
An electronic mail from the Saskatchewan Health Authority, which not too long ago issued a public tender to get rid of the sanitizer, mentioned the division appreciated the cargo from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
However, authority spokesperson James Winkel mentioned it was capable of supply a more practical sanitizer provide by itself.
Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck mentioned provincial governments ought to have thought of distributing the surplus sanitizer to different organizations.
“Instead of allowing a warehouse of hand sanitizer to sit unused and expire in the middle of a public health crisis, the Saskatchewan Party government should have considered distributing it to non-profits, community organizations and others who were running short of supplies,” Beck mentioned in an emailed assertion.
Manitoba officers mentioned that province, too, had extra as a result of it obtained hand sanitizer from the federal authorities, however had procured its personal.
That province mentioned repurposing hand sanitizer is roughly one-third the price of disposal. During repurposing, a chemical firm extracts the separate chemical substances out of the hand sanitizer to reuse them.
Prince Edward Island spent about $60,000 to get rid of about 48,500 litres of expired hand sanitizer final 12 months.
Quebec and Nova Scotia are choices to do away with their expired hand sanitizer, however officers didn’t say how a lot it was anticipated to price.
New Brunswick’s expired sanitizer was repurposed by a neighborhood vendor that converts alcohol merchandise into biofuel.
“It’s a cost-efficient way to dispose of these materials, while reducing our environmental impacts,” Adam Bowie, a authorities spokesperson, mentioned in an electronic mail.
Not each area was left with expired hand sanitizer. Nunavut didn’t procure a big inventory of the sanitizer and it mentioned disposal has by no means been required for the territory.
Ottawa took an aggressive procurement strategy on the outset of the pandemic, the Public Services and Procurement Canada web site says.
The federal authorities has spent greater than $11 billion on medical gadgets and protecting gear because the pandemic started.
