Rent-A-Drum eyes Namibia’s first advanced hazardous waste facility

From the newsletter

Namibia-based waste management company Rent-A-Drum has announced plans to build the country’s first A-Class hazardous waste treatment and disposal plant. The Namwaste Management Facility, to be located near the mining town of Arandis in western- central of the country will be constructed at a cost of $11.5 million..

• The A-Class designation is Namibia’s highest-level hazardous waste facility, capable of safely handling the most dangerous and complex waste streams.

• Namibia’s mining sector generates substantial hazardous waste, including arsenic dust, tailings and chemical residues.

More details

• The Namwaste Management Facility, set to be located 17km north of the town of Arandis, will cover 177 hectares of land and collect a minimum of 60,000 tonnes of hazardous waste annually. The plant aims to cater for the mining industry and all other producers of specifically hazardous waste at a national scale, including the emerging needs of the oil and gas industry.

• According to Namibia’s Environmental Commissioner, Timoteus Mufeti, the facility, which aligns with the country’s waste management infrastructure goals as outlined in Namibia’s 6th National Development Plan, “will definitely be a departure point to improve Namibia's regulation and to meet the best standards in the world.”

• Established in 1989, Rent-A-Drum is a private company and one of the leading players in Namibia’s waste management sector. Beyond managing hazardous waste, the company also offers other services including clean-ups and cargo spill management, destructions, waste audits, event waste management and landfill management. In 2010, the company established the first material recovery facility in the capital, Windhoek, and a second in Swakopmund in 2019. It also constructed the first refuse-derived fuel plant in the country in 2017.

• In the new project, Rent-A-Drum’s holding company will provide the technical expertise required in the treatment of the complex waste streams. It will also be responsible for supporting the  ecological transition of the local industry in a bid to raise Namibia’s environmental standards, in line with best international practices.

• By leaning on the international expertise of the mother company, Rent-A-Drum board chairman, Gys Louw said the company “ aims to sustainably support the ecological transition of local industries and together raise environmental standards to the highest level.”

• Once operational, the facility, designed to run in accordance with international standards, will include a detailed tracking process from production sites to disposal cells. Before final disposal, the waste will be treated to render it inert, eliminating any possibility of air or underground pollution. In addition, the disposal cells will be constructed with a containment barrier made up of three layers of geomembrane and a leak detection system.

• The facility’s location in Arandis, Erongo region, is strategic as it lies close to major uranium, gold and base metal mining operations. This proximity will allow for efficient collection, treatment and safe disposal of industrial waste, addressing both the growing environmental challenges of the mining sector and Namibia’s wider industrial ecological transition goals.

• Upon completion, the Namwaste Management Facility is expected to stimulate the local economy and create at least 40 permanent jobs. Rent-A-Drum, in partnership with Orano Mining Namibia, has also committed to funding local development programmes, beginning with the construction of the Spitzkoppe borehole water desalination plant. The company will finance its operations and maintenance for an initial ten-year period.

• In the meantime, as the country awaits completion of the facility, Rent-A-Drum is set to develop a temporary hazardous waste storage site to address Namibia’s rising waste burden. Already approved by the Environmental Commissioner, the temporary facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and will facilitate the seamless disposal of stored waste once construction of the main disposal facility is finished.

Our take

• By adopting international best practice, Namibia positions itself to meet rising environmental standards, reinforcing its attractiveness to investors in extractive industries who are keen on sustainable operations.

• The facility could accelerate the rollout of Namibia’s anticipated Hazardous Waste Management Regulations, strengthening oversight and compliance across the industrial sector.

• If implemented successfully, the facility could serve as a blueprint for African peers seeking to tackle hazardous waste challenges linked to mining and industrial expansion.