The company, which was formed 15 years ago, has been loyal to Toyota and Hino since that time and if it inherits other makes of trucks and bakkies when it takes over contracts from other service providers it soon trades them in on Toyota and Hino products according to the company CEO, Dr. David Sekete. Besides the 62 Hino trucks the fleet currently includes 16 Toyota cars and bakkies.
Although the company now concentrates mainly on medical waste management it still does domestic waste removal with five 19m3 compactors and removes rubble with skip loaders. Dr. Sekete says there are many benefits from operating a fleet from one manufacturer, but in terms of the Hino trucks he says the main attributes that make these trucks well suited to his applications are the reliability and durability, fuel economy and engine power in hilly terrain.
The first vehicle in the Buhle medical waste fleet was a Hilux pick-up with a box body but soon Hino trucks with special Hazchem box bodies were added to the fleet for this purpose. Initially the company serviced hospitals and clinics in Gauteng only, but operations have expanded subsequently into Limpopo, northern KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Mpumalanga Provinces.
Six years ago the company bought a 300-ton medical waste incinerator in Dunswart and it operates at full capacity, with additional waste collected being delivered to incinerators in Klerksdorp and Roodepoort.
Now the company has a waste disposal machine, known as a Converter, undergoing testing in Botswana so that it can be approved for use in South Africa. The purchase of this machine supports Buhle Waste's mission statement to "go green" with the plan being to install this equipment at a number of major waste generation sites to cut down on waste collection and transportation to dump sites.
