First MARINE WASTE TREATMENT facility opened in UAE

24 August 2020

Lab Chat

The UAE has opened the Middle East’s first marine waste treatment facility in Sharjah. A collaboration between local waste management company Bee’ah and European environmental non-profit organisation Polyeco, the plant will help the UAE to protect the waters surrounding its territory and develop its circular economy.

The onsite Alternative Raw Material facility is intended to harvest marine waste and maritime-related hazardous waste in order to create reusable by-products, as the UAE seeks to ramp up its recycling habits. Bee’ah and Polyeco are also looking to expand their working relationship to include other services, such as green ship recycling and oil spill response plans.

The first of its kind

Marine waste is an increasing problem all across the globe, as plastics, agricultural run-off and untreated sewage are finding their way into the world’s seas and oceans in ever increasing concentrations. It’s not one that’s confined to the Middle East, either – water firms discharged raw sewage into English rivers on over 200,000 occasions last year alone, according to a recent report.

While the UAE fortunately does not suffer such an ignominious reputation with regard to its own wastewater treatment protocols, the country is keen to modernise its modus operandi. With that in mind, Bee’ah have swiftly become the largest environmental management company in the UAE and the fastest growing one in the Middle East.

Already well established in handing terrestrial waste, the company are now branching out into sea-based materials. To do so, they have partnered with Polyeco, who are a leading environmental protection company from Europe that have overseen successful facilities in places such as Greece. Following that same blueprint, the two entities have combined to create the region’s first maritime waste treatment facility.

Forging a relationship for the future

The finished plant has undergone an independent review by DNV GL, an internationally accredited registrar, to verify that it conforms with the strict standards observed by the industry. Those behind the venture are optimistic that it will represent just the first in a lengthy list of collaborations between Bee’ah and Polyeco.

“Bee’ah and Polyeco share the same values and vision for sustainability, growth, and business transparency,” explained Athanasios Polychronopoulos, the chief of Global Operations for Polyeco. “The alliance highlights the importance of teamwork to broaden our focus for evolving environmental challenges and demands. This partnership will lay the foundations of Polyeco’s expansion in the Middle East and introduce our exceptional solutions and sophisticated technology.”

Areas of research that are already being targeted for investigation in the Middle East include green ship recycling, which focuses on minimising the waste generated by the shipping industry, as well as cleaning up oil spills created from that same sector.

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