WASTE MANAGEMENT Waste management multinational Averda is investing in local operations
Dubai-headquartered specialist waste management multinational Averda has made several investments in its South African operations after it won medical waste management contracts in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
The firm developed a hazardous waste landfill site in Vlakfontein, Gauteng, to drive environmental low-impact waste storage and introduced new technologies in on-site waste minimisation and handling for various industrial sectors, says Averda CEO Malek Sukkar.
Building on Averda’s existing integrated waste management offerings, the new funding will substantially expand the company’s waste handling capacity and infrastructure, and signals the board’s commitment and long-term investment in South Africa, he avers.
Averda acquired a majority stake in Wasteman Holdings in 2015, and has since acquired another South African medical waste company. Its South African operations have strengthened, spurred by a number of major new contracts, including three-year municipal waste collection contracts in the City of Cape Town and on-site waste management service contracts for major industrial players in the Cape and Gauteng regions.
The board has announced a stronger drive to invest in innovative solutions and further diversification of its waste-related business, says Sukkar.
“This is a market with huge opportunities to develop innovative solutions to one of the most pressing challenges facing the world today: the sustainable treatment and disposal of the myriad forms of waste produced by our societies.
“While building new low- impact waste-storage facilities and pioneering medical waste management solutions, we also aim to bring new jobs to the communities we serve. “We are excited about our future here in South Africa, and its vital role to our continued strategic growth,” he concludes.