Most of the waste stories in Zimbabwe are about things everyone can see: overflowing skips, smoking dumpsites, plastic in the storm drains. Medical waste is different. It leaves clinics and hospitals in bags and boxes, and what happens to it after that is mostly out of sight. That is exactly why it deserves more attention.
What counts as medical waste
A peer-reviewed review of medical solid waste in Zimbabwe, available through PubMed Central, lists what health facilities produce: pathological waste, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, infectious waste, cytotoxic drugs, sharps such as needles and blades, and ordinary general waste. Only some of it is dangerous, but when it is not separated properly, all of it has to be treated as if it were.
What the research found
The picture from academic work is consistent. The 2026 study by researchers at Midlands State University's Department of Geography, Environmental Sustainability and Resilience Building, published in Environmental Quality Management, found inadequate waste classification systems, inadequate storage, unsustainable ways of transporting waste, and heavy dependence on incineration and open pit burning. It also found little to no recycling of medical waste compared with global trends, and described legislation as "reluctant", which it links to illegal dumping that threatens public health and the environment.
The earlier review reached similar conclusions. It found that facilities often stored, collected and transported waste without separating it, and disposed of it through open pits, landfills, incineration, burying, open burning and open dumpsites. It traced the root causes to a lack of money, weak enforcement, limited awareness among health and waste workers, and decisions made without involving the people who handle the waste. The health consequences it lists include infectious and respiratory illness, stomach problems and injuries.
What better looks like
Not all the news is bad. At Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo, a medical waste incinerator funded through the Global Fund and UNDP has been running since late December 2024. By May 2026 it had processed about 13,000 kg of medical waste, and it serves other health institutions in the southern region as well as Mpilo, according to reporting carried by Zimbabwe Situation. It burns at around 800°C in its first chamber and 1,100°C in its second, far hotter than a pit fire, which is what allows it to destroy infectious material with much less smoke. Mpilo's acting director of operations, Phenias Sithole, said it had changed the way the hospital manages its waste, and nearby residents reported seeing noticeably less smoke.
In Harare, Geo Pomona lists a hazardous waste landfill and an encapsulation unit among the facilities it has completed at the Pomona site, the Herald reported in March 2026. Encapsulation seals sharps and some pharmaceuticals in a solid block so they cannot be reused or leak.
The recycling opportunity
The Midlands State study makes a point that is easy to miss: there is real potential to recycle medical solid waste in Zimbabwe, even though almost none happens now. The authors developed a framework they describe as easy to apply. The logic of separating waste properly where it is produced is simple. Not everything a clinic throws away is infectious, and packaging or clean plastic that never touches a patient can be recycled like any other material if it is kept apart. Good separation also shrinks the amount of genuinely hazardous waste that has to be incinerated, which cuts costs.
Who this affects
The people most at risk are the ones closest to the waste: cleaners and porters in clinics, council and private collectors, and the informal pickers who work at dumpsites such as Pomona and Bulawayo's Ngozi Mine, where improperly disposed sharps can end up. Communities near open burning sites are next.
For private clinics, pharmacies, dental and veterinary practices, the practical question is which licensed operator collects their hazardous waste and where it goes. The BinGo directory has a Hazardous and Medical Waste category for exactly this reason, and we are adding operators as we verify them.
What to watch
The key things to follow are whether more regional incinerators like Mpilo's come online, whether EMA publishes enforcement data on medical waste, and whether facilities start separating recyclables from genuinely hazardous waste. Each of those would make the waste nobody sees a lot less dangerous.
Sources
- Medical Waste Management and Recycling in Zimbabwe, Environmental Quality Management (Wiley)
- Medical solid waste management status in Zimbabwe, PubMed Central
- Mpilo strengthens medical waste management, Zimbabwe Situation
- Geo Pomona's waste-to-energy initiative powers ahead with new restaurant commissioning, The Herald
Written by Rufaro
Plain-language guides to getting rid of anything in Zimbabwe, properly.
