Million kg milestone as Averda safely treats Covid waste

United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based waste and recycling specialist Averda has announced that it has safely destroyed over one million kg (2.2 million lb) of infectious Covid-19 waste since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Averda is the leading waste and recycling company in the emerging world and includes construction and demolition waste as part of its services.

However, the company also said it has been working with local authorities and medical institutions across the UAE to ensure that the enormous increase in medical waste and used PPE created by Covid-19 is managed to the highest safety standards.

Thermal treatment at high temperature is agreed to be the most appropriate method of disposing high-risk hazardous healthcare waste. However, when the pandemic hit, UAE’s capacity for dealing with medical waste in this way needed to be urgently expanded.

Fast and decisive action was required, so at the request of the authorities, Averda arranged for the delivery of four mobile thermal treatment units which were flown in, installed and made operational within record time.

Working around the clock, teams at Averda’s sites were able to install the incinerators at key locations in a matter of days. The challenge was magnified by the travel restrictions in place at the time, which meant that all technical guidance and training had to take place via videolink and pre-recorded means.

Since then, the waste from hospitals, isolation units and clinics has been exposed to temperatures of up to 800°, rendering it virus-free. Volumes fluctuated throughout 2020 in accordance with the number of Covid cases and the pandemic medical research activity.

“I am very proud of our team’s response to the huge increase in medical waste needs created by the pandemic,” stated Malek Sukkar, CEO of Averda.

“They have worked day and night to ensure that over a million kilos of potentially-infectious PPE and other medical waste has been treated safely.”