Indaver, a mainly Dutch-owned waste management business, has plants in Antwerp, Kallo, Grimbergen, Willebroek and Leuven. The plant at Doel handles household and business waste, with six incineration ovens and two dumping places for hazardous and non-hazardous waste.

The photos were taken over a period of two years and show emergency exits padlocked, wet floors around the entrance to incinerators, electrical cables running by open water, a fire extinguisher fixed in place with tape and leaking pipelines carrying hazardous gases.

“It’s been bothering me for years,” the worker, who did not wish to be identified, told the Gazet. “I know I’m running a risk because I’m officially not allowed to take photos, but I’ve just had enough. Nobody does anything about it, and there have already been serious accidents.”

The last incident reported by the company was in June, when a worker was burned after a fire broke out in a bunker used to store household waste. The cause of the fire was never revealed.

“There are indeed a number of photos where we have to admit that the situation is less safe than we require,” said Indaver spokesman Jos Artois. “Safety for us is an extremely important priority. We carry out regular safety rounds in the plant, and if similar situations arise, they must be notified by personnel so that we can do whatever is necessary to avoid them.”

The company, he said, actively encourages staff to report unsafe situations, so it cannot explain why the worker in question should have taken his photos to the press rather than to management. “It’s not our concern who might have passed the photos along,” Artois said. “But we want to do everything possible to avoid unsafe situations in the future.”