(Yicai Global) Feb. 28 -- China's medical waste processing sector could grow as much as 15 percent this year to a value of CNY6.7 billion (USD956 million) thanks to the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to market researcher CCID Consulting.

Disposal firms processed 980,000 tons of medical waste in 2019, putting compound annual growth over the past four years at 7.4 percent, CCID said in a recent report. Waste from medical masks so far this year has already reached 162,000 tons.

The Covid-19 outbreak is making people more concerned about what happens to medical waste, and with the increased use of protective medical gear, sales of waste processing equipment will grow about 20 percent to CNY8.5 billion by the end of 2022, according to the report.

There are 407 firms in China licensed to dispose of medical waste, and many deal with other forms of hazardous waste so are adjusting to focus on the increased volume from the medical sector, the report's author Ma Weiwei told Yicai Global, adding that they can meet the increased demand resulting from the epidemic.

The country had the capacity to dispose of nearly 5,831 tons of medical waste each day as of Feb. 24, up from 928 tons on Jan. 20, according to data from China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Capacity in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak, has nearly tripled to 648.6 tons a day.

Even without Covid-19, China's medical sector is expanding and companies have been developing new treatment technologies to minimize the impact of disposal on the environment, Ma said. When these advances become more cost effective, an upgrade in the technologies used in China's medical waste sector is inevitable, he added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, James Boynton