The UK government got rid of more than three billion pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) that it bought during the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce storage cost, according to official data published on Thursday.
It includes items such as aprons, masks, gloves coveralls, eye protectors, and body bags. Some of them were sold or donated, most were burnt or made into other products.
The government said it “makes no apology” for over-purchasing PPEs at the beginning of the pandemic, saying its priority at the time was to ensure the National Health Service (NHS) had the PPE it needed to deal with the worst-case scenario.
Around 133,000 pallets of PPEs, or 1.4 billion items, were burnt, including more 571 million aprons, 454 million masks, and 362 million eye protectors.
The DHSC said it’s part of a “'energy from waste’ processes, for example to generate electricity for the national grid.” The department also noted that the PPEs generate fewer carbon emissions.
Nearly 1.5 billion items were recycled, including around 1.1 billion aprons, 167 million eye protectors, and 149 million gowns.
According to the DHSC, 23 million visors were turned into plastic food trays, and aprons become “bags for life”—that is, multi-use shopping bags to reduce single-use plastics. The department also said it has worked with Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network to look for new ways to recycle the stock.
Around 6,100 pallets, or 108 items, were donated to countries, such as Brazil and Pakistan, and domestic events, such as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Almost 12,000 pallets, or 161 million items, were sold through e-auctions.
The removal of excess stock is an effort to reduce the cost of PPE storage.
According to the DHSC, the department currently holds around 5.8 billion items of excess PPE, the equivalent of 15 percent of the total stock purchased
It also said the cost of storing PPE was around £564,000 per day in January, which was 78 percent down from the first three months of 2021.
The government has repeatedly faced criticism over its handling of PPE during the pandemic, including the purchase of useless items.
Last year, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said the government had lost 75 percent of the £12 billion it spent on PPE in the first year of the pandemic to inflated prices and kit that did not meet requirements, including £4 billion of PPE that could not be used in the NHS.
The government announced in December it was suing one firm that supplied it with PPE for £122 million plus costs.
PPE Medpro won contracts after being recommended by Tory peer Baroness Mone. She denies any wrongdoing.
The government is attempting to get its money back on one of the deals in the High Court, claiming the medical gowns supplied “did not comply with the specification in the contract.”
PPE Medpro has said it would rigorously defend the claim.
The DHSC defended its over-purchasing of PPEs, saying it had “acted swiftly to procure PPE at the height of the pandemic, competing in an overheated global market where demand massively outstripped supply.”
“Our priority throughout the pandemic was saving lives—and we make no apology for erring on the side of caution and ensuring that the NHS had the PPE it needed to deal with the worst-case scenario. This meant we were able to keep our NHS open and protect as many people as possible,” it said.
