Waste Projects
Project Coordinator - Llewellyn Leonard

Health Care Without Harm	groundWork's Waste Project aims to reduce and, where possible eliminate, the harmful effects of health care waste, industrial landfill waste and incineration on human health and the environment in Southern Africa. Health care waste This project uses the twin prong strategy of working both with medical waste institutions to assist them in reducing their wastes, as well as with communities affected by the unsafe dumping or burning of health care waste.  PDF document: Community Action to reduce the harmful effects of health care waste and incineration in South Africa groundWork’s  ‘greening hospitals campaign’, was started in December 2000 to help health care institutions reduce the amount of health care waste generated, thereby saving costs and increasing occupational health and safety, not only for staff but also for surrounding communities. The two hospitals first identified for greening are Ngwelezane Hospital, Empangeni, and Edendale Hospital, Pietermaritzburg. Incineration groundWork is continuously involved in campaigns to oppose incinerator proposals around the country.  While many Northern and some Southern countries have shifted away from incineration because of the serious health and environmental risks it poses, South Africa continues to witness a growing number of proposals for new incinerators. groundWork is convinced that incineration is an outdated, polluting, capital intensive technology which does not make environmental nor economic sense. Industrial Landfill waste groundWork provides assistance to communities who are adversely affected by pollution emanating from landfill sites, in particularly hazardous landfill sites.  To ensure that the objectives for the project are fulfilled, certain outputs have been formulated. These are as follows:
The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives

1. An inventory of all incinerators in SA will be compiled. groundWork has already started compiling an inventory for incinerators and will be following up this inventory on an ongoing basis. To begin with, groundWork is keeping tabs of all new incinerator projects currently being proposed in SA.

2. The implementation of national policies and international conventions relating to health care waste will be monitored. Thus far, the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng Health Care Waste Management Policies are being monitored, including the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) 0248, Management of Health Care Waste – Code of Practice.

3. A strategy for greening at least one hospital will be formulated. The aim is to help the institutions to reduce the amount of waste produced thereby saving costs and increasing occupational health and safety.  Currently, two of the hospitals that have been identified for greening are Ngwelezana hospital at Empangeni and Edendale hospital in Pietermaritzburg.  It is hoped that these hospitals would eventually serve as model institutions for other hospitals to follow.  groundWork, together with the Department of Health (DOH), is already working closely with both hospitals to promote waste reduction through education and awareness via hospital posters.  A series of 13 hospital waste posters have been developed on such topics as: "Health is wealth", "Think before you throw" and "Handle mercury with care". 

4. A technical assistance service provided to communities will also be formulated. Last year (2001) groundWork hosted a Medical Waste Skills Share visit by two experts from the United States, so as to provide insight into proper health care waste management. This Skills Share visit was conducted at the above two mentioned institutions, but also at the Good Shepherd Hospital in Swaziland.  

5. A national civil society organization (CSO) strategy on health care waste will also be developed and implemented, as well as community links with national and international CSO campaigns facilitated during the course of 2002.  A combined health care waste and incineration workshop took place in Isipingo, Durban in April 2002.  This workshop was attended by representatives from South African communities, Mozambique and Swaziland.  At this workshop participants adopted the Isipingo Declaration.

6. In addition to the above outputs, a media strategy and information service will be developed and implemented, as well as a response strategy to support communities affected by environmental events.

Read groundWork's presentation to the International Healthcare Waste Conference, Sandton, August 2003.