Technik  ohne Grenzen 

Most infectious hospital waste in Senegal is incinerated openly. These open fires are harmful to people and nature because toxic residues are released into the groundwater. In addition, open combustion does not reach sufficiently high temperatures so that the combustion does not have a disinfecting effect and pathogens can spread further.

The charitable association "Hilfe für Senegal e.V.", which has set up two health stations in the Thiès area, is aware of this problem and asked us from Technology without Borders for professional and technical support.

The project objective was to enable the safe disposal of infectious hospital waste. For this purpose, an incinerator was built near the regional hospital in Khombole. In this incinerator the waste of the regional hospital in Khombole as well as the waste of the nearby hospital wards can be incinerated in a controlled manner.

This incinerator is a double-walled brick incinerator with two combustion chambers. In the second chamber, the gases are afterburned, which makes it possible to achieve combustion with low flue gas emissions. Next to the incinerator, a lockable storage facility for the infectious waste to be incinerated was built, a roof was erected as a protection against rain and sun, and a landfill for the remaining ashes was constructed. The overall system is based on the low-budget principle: simple but solid and repair-insensitive technology with the lowest possible operating costs.

In order to be able to use the incinerator safely over the long term, training courses were held on the operation and maintenance of the incinerator. Furthermore, waste separation systems were introduced in the hospital wards. To ensure that these are properly integrated into the daily work of hospital staff, the employees were trained in the proper handling of waste. In addition, a general understanding of the conscious handling of waste was conveyed.

Due to the good cooperation with a local technician in Senegal, who had been trained by a TeoG team in the construction, operation and maintenance of incinerators in spring 2019, we were able to carry out the project as a remote project. This means that Techonology without Borders was not personally on site in Senegal, but coordinated and implemented the project from Germany. Together with the regional hospital in Khombole and the organisation Hilfe für Senegal e.V., which already has a lot of experience in implementing development aid projects in this region, we selected a suitable location for the incinerator and people responsible for operating and maintaining the incinerator. The local technician agreed to take over the construction of the incinerator and subsequently trained selected people in the operation and maintenance of the incinerator. A team from the organisation Hilfe für Senegal e.V. was also present in Senegal for this training and supported the local technician. For the training courses and the construction of the incinerator we prepared our technical knowledge in a clear manner and in French and provided all necessary materials. In addition, we trained the team of the organisation Hilfe für Senegal e. V. in the field of waste management, so that the team could pass on their knowledge to the regional hospital in Khombole and the health stations in Kaba and Toubatoule. We are pleased about the successful cooperation with Hilfe für Senegal e. V. and the local technician on site.

We will stay in contact with the organisation Hilfe für Senegal e. V. and the technician on site to help with questions or problems with waste separation or with the operation and maintenance of the incinerator. In 2021 a team of Hilfe für Senegal e. V. will travel to Senegal to follow the development of the waste problem in Senegal.

Thank you very much for your interest! 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to ed.goet@nnamhcah.aral