4.4.2. Waste sorting, storage and transportation
Site surveys in the hospitals revealed that most wards
have a temporary storage room for putting containers
that get full during the day or at night. For Tshilidzini
hospital, the waste is collected from the wards in the
morning just before 8:00 am each day. At Elim hospital,
the site survey found that wastes are removed from the
wards twice per day at 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. Waste is
therefore not allowed to accumulate within the wards,
which is a good thing since the region has very hot summer
seasons, which causes waste to decompose very fast
thus producing unwanted odours. Waste is transported
to the central storage room and/or for appropriate management
practices (Fig. 2). General waste, instead of however
being temporary stored in the wards, it is stored in
designated stands outside each ward. The central storage
room at Tshilidzini hospital was found not to have any
locking system, meaning that any person could go there
anytime, which could be dangerous considering the types
of waste stored. A locking system should therefore be
designed. The room itself is not in good condition, and
plastic bags containing waste are just put on the ground.
Often, there are leakages on the floor from plastic bags
containing medical waste, which could be a source of
environmental hazard.
4.4.3. Incineration
The study revealed that in both hospitals, the incinerators
used are rudimentary as they have poor design and
operational problems. The incinerators are situated within
the perimeter of the hospital grounds. Table 4. shows the
percentage of the waste that is incinerated in both hospitals.
A properly designed incinerator should completely
burn waste leaving a minimum of residual in the form of
ashes and should be equipped with scrubbers to trap toxic
air pollutants emitted. The incinerator at Tshilidzini hospital
was found to be the most poorly designed. Its capacity
was also just enough to treat all of the generated waste per
day. The incinerator is self-made and is constructed from
burned bricks and cement; it has a shape of house fireplace.
Waste is burned using coal as fuel, which does not allow
proper control of temperature. A high amount of ash is
generated because of the incomplete burning of waste. Its
chimney is also short and, depending on wind direction