LABOUR has criticised the “eye-watering waste” of burning half a billion pieces of unused Covid personal protective equipment (PPE) in China.

The government said it was holding some 589 million unneeded items in China as of last September, most of which were destroyed by March of this year in a bid to reduce high storage costs.

By March, some 12 million pieces were still left over. They were also due to be burned in an effort to quickly exit pricey storage facilities.