Environmental Commissioner Timoteus Mufeti says Dundee Precious Metal's general waste management facility is in line with government standards and was approved by Cabinet. Mufeti was speaking at the inauguration of the facility at Tsumeb in the Oshikoto Region.

Waste management has become a pressing national and international issue, posing a significant threat to human and environmental health. Although Namibia is trying its best, the current waste management systems are unsatisfactory.  Dundee Precious Metal's Manager for Environment and Communities, Vazembua Tjizoo, says the facility is one of the best, focusing on segregating and sorting waste at source to minimise waste going to landfills.

"The operators collect the waste from the drums at the recycle stations from the skips with skip trucks and transport it to the waste facility. At the waste facility, two things happen: the recyclable waste is baled in a baller machine and packaged and stored temporarily before being dispatched to recyclers utilising forklifts."

Environmental Commissioner Timoteus Mufeti says the facility is designed in accordance with some of the best international standards.

"So the facility on its own aligns very perfectly with the national strategy on solid waste management, and that is the strategy that MD also talked about in line with what the government has put in place; that strategy was approved by the Namibian Cabinet in 2017; it's the strategy that aligns or guides the Namibian government and all other stakeholders when it comes to waste management in Namibia."

The mine has also planted about 7,000 indigenous trees that will reduce waste in landfills.

Dundee Precious Metal invested N$15.6 million in the facility.