Selma Ikela
Windhoek
The health care risk waste treatment facility expected to open next year in the capital city is environmentally safe. The facility, which consists of a fuel pump, autoclave and incinerator, came about as a result of the municipality identifying gaps in how health care risk waste is generally managed in the city.
This waste is generated at healthcare facilities such as pharmacies, veterinaries, laboratories and general practitioners and would generally go through a non-burning process and then be disposed of at Kupferberg dumpsite on the periphery of the city. Other waste, such as amputated body parts, or medicine, would be burned in the incinerator.
The construction of the new facility, situated in the Northern Industrial Area, cost N$70 million.
Asked if the facility will not contribute to air pollution and if it is environmental safe, the municipal section engineer at the landfill site, Stellio Tsauseb, said the facility has been cleared by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.
“We have a clearance certificate in terms of our operation and that was only attained because we gave them the assurance how and to what degree the air emission will be treated, and that the air-cleaning equipment is there. In total, about 65 to 70 percent of the incinerator is only air-cleaning equipment, and you can see the emphasis that is there,” stressed Tsauseb.
He added that they are also residents of the city and want to make sure they don’t harm themselves or anybody else.
The facility is expected to open in March next year. The autoclave and incinerator testing will be done in January and February next year respectively.
Pending matters that need to be done before the commencement of the facility include training of industry whose waste will be managed at the facility, and promulgation of tariffs, amongst others.
“We did the inspection with our consultant already and it’s only issuing the contractor with a taking over certificate stating that we are satisfied with the work done, and have they honoured their contract,” he added.
Tsauseb stated the facility was identified in 2010 in their waste management policy as a priority and it was only in 2015 when the construction started.
••• Caption