Biohazard concerns and questions about nearby communities’ health and safety have been raised after a massive blaze that gutted South Africa’s largest medical waste incineration plant, which was already under scrutiny by the Green Scorpions for compliance issues in North West Province.
Last Tuesday’s fire at Averda’s Klerksdorp facility – unreported until the Sunday Times began asking questions – had destroyed parts of the site that handle up to 800 tons of hazardous medical and pharmaceutical waste every month, including diseased body parts and organs.
The company, whose head office is in Dubai, has yet to respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment (DFFE) confirmed the inferno, saying the Green Scorpions had already visited the site on the morning of the fire “to monitor adherence to the requirements of the warning previously issued and conditions of the authorisations”.
Although the cause of the fire is unknown, the DFFE confirmed the facility, which handles infectious, pathological, sharps, chemical, cytotoxic and pharmaceutical waste, had been under scrutiny for a long time.
“In February 2025, a compliance inspection was conducted and a warning with specific requirements was issued. It has been reporting on these requirements and remains under close monitoring,” the DFFE said. Officials are also probing whether Averda had stored excessive volumes of waste on the site.
By Thursday, when the Green Scorpions carried out an unannounced inspection, the blaze had been extinguished, but municipal fire services were still monitoring the site for flare-ups.
Waste management industry sources warned that the plant’s incinerators handle hazardous material that “sometimes contains bacteria and viruses”.
The Sunday Times was told the fire broke out at about 2.30am, and that on Wednesday afternoon, firefighters were still battling the blaze, as strong winds fanned hot ash, which ignited waste piled in the yard.
“The control room, electrical equipment and the continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) station were all destroyed, but no injuries were reported,” a source said.
Musa Chamane, a senior waste campaign manager at groundWork, a non-profit environmental justice organisation, said air pollution from burning medical and pathological waste could cause serious health problems.
“Heart diseases, cancer, deformed babies, asthma and sinuses are linked to compromised air pollution,” said Chamane.
“Infectious waste processed at medical waste incinerators has a high dose of chemicals… because people treated by health institutions use drugs or meds. Burning the waste results in the pumping of such chemicals into the air … and affects communities in the area.
“A thermal incinerator in Olifantsfontein caught fire about 10 years ago, and arson was claimed. The company was fined millions of rands. I hope Averda also has to pay so that next time they keep their house in order.”
This is not the first time the plant has faced questions over its operations. In 2009, the Sunday Times reported that the company, then under its previous owners Wasteman, had allegedly dumped tonnes of untreated medical waste near Welkom in the Free State.