Bee’ah, the Middle East’s leading sustainability pioneer, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UAE-based startup Seramic Materials Ltd, a pioneer in sustainable ceramics made from recycled materials, at the World Future Energy Summit during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2020. The objective of the MoU is to explore the potential of recycling ashes from municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWI) from Bee’ah’s waste-to-energy plant into sustainable, affordable, and durable construction materials.

Bee’ah and Seramic Materials will explore solutions to extract value out of any solid residue waste as a result of incineration – such as bottom ash and fly ash – generated at Emirates Waste to Energy (EWTE) Company’s first project, Sharjah Waste to Energy plant. Both companies stand to benefit from each other’s expertise, initiatives and working procedures to enable the UAE’s circular economy and zero-waste-to-landfills target upon the completion of Sharjah Waste to Energy Plant, the first facility of Bee’ah and Masdar’s joint venture, Emirates Waste to Energy Company.

Commenting on the strategic collaboration, HE Khaled Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah and Chairman of Emirates Waste to Energy Company, said, “Bee’ah believes that collaboration and co-creation with partners can help solve some of the region’s greatest environmental challenges – in this case, that is closing the loop for waste management. By adopting a holistic approach to sustainability, we are leading the charge in the UAE towards a truly zero-waste solution and a circular economy, in which we reinvent and innovate new products made by waste.”

Dr. Nicolas Calvet, Co-founder and CEO, Seramic Materials, stated: “Once the two UAE incinerators are operational, MSWI ash will rapidly become a major mineral waste in the UAE by quantity produced with about 800,000 tons per year, ranking MSWI ash as third just after demolition concrete and alumina red mud. By collaborating with Bee’ah now, we are anticipating and providing viable solutions for this foreseeable waste management issue. As soon as the waste-to-energy plant begins to generate ash, Seramic Materials will be ready to transform it into valuable products. This partnership demonstrates visionary leadership of the UAE and the Group CEO of Bee’ah. The solution developed for EWTE is applicable all over the world.”

Seramic Materials has developed a unique patented solution to recycle industrial solid waste into sustainable and affordable value-added ceramic products.  The company has worked with The Catalyst, a Masdar-BP initiative, to build a laboratory at The Tech Park in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (UAE) to showcase their patented waste integration technology.  This is the first laboratory located in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) dedicated to transformation and up-cycling of locally produced industrial solid waste into value-added products, helping to drive industry within the region towards a near-zero waste approach.

Through EWTE’s new plant in Sharjah, more than 300,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste will be diverted from landfill each year, contributing to Sharjah’s effort to become a zero-waste city by 2021. The facility converts waste into produced heat which is then used to drive a turbine and generate up to 30MW of electricity to power up to 28,000 homes. The flue gas of the waste processing will be environmentally treated before being released into the atmosphere, while the incinerator will burn all municipal solid waste, leaving behind combustion residue – 25 percent of the original mass will remain as bottom ash and approximately 2.5 percent is fly ash – which Seramic Materials will use in the manufacturing of new products.