Al Arfaj opens largest recycling plant in Mideast

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‘Our Environment Household Wastes Recycling Plant’ has production capacity of 12 thousand tons per year

KUWAIT CITY, April 28: Saud Al Arfaj, Chairman of Al Arfaj Group, said that since Al-Arfaj started its activities in the early 1960s in the field of cleaning, waste disposal and recycling in Kuwait, it has committed itself to continue to progress and develop the best services for citizens and the environment.

In his speech during the inauguration of Our Environment Company’s Household Waste Recycling Plant under the patronage of the Governor of Jahra, lieutenant general Fahd Ahmed Al Amir, and many businessmen, media and press personnel, he said that with the continuous efforts of the management and all employees of the Company throughout half a century, Al Arfaj Establishment was transferred from a sole proprietorship to become in a few decades, a holding group under which multidisciplinary companies with a workforce of up to 10,000 employees, officials and workers, are employed. He pointed out that “the dream was great.

The road was hard. It was not easy to achieve the Group’s results, but it succeeded in overcoming the difficulties, which culminated in the acquisition of the new jewel in Al-Arfaj Holding Group” He said it was not possible to achieve all this without hard work and continuous effort.

The largest production line
Al Arfaj expressed his pride to open the largest production line in the Middle East for the recycling of polyethylene and polypropylene with a production capacity of 12,000 tons per year, while stressing that this production line is equipped with the latest European equipment and international specifications in terms of electricity and water consumption. He pointed out that, based on the Company’s keenness on the preservation of the environment, it has supplied the production line with a water purification plant dedicated entirely to the needs of the plant, all in order to preserve the State’s natural resources of water.

The Progress of the company
In connection with the idea of acquiring Our Environment Company and then adding a production line for the recycling of plastic waste, Al Arfaj said that this was part of the Company’s natural development process in the field of recycling household waste, as a result of 20 years experience in waste sorting and compression of all other types of paper waste through the factory of Kuwait Waste Transport Company and their recycling, which is subsidiary of Al-Arfaj Group. He pointed out that the Kuwait Waste Transport Company acquired about 40 percent of all paper waste in the State of Kuwait with a production capacity of 80 thousand tons annually.

Kuwaiti hands
At the end of his speech, Al-Arfaj expressed his pride in the Kuwaiti hands, whi in turn contributed to reaching the current levels of quality which highlight Al-Arfaj Group’s commitment to contribute to the progress of the community and make it environmentally friendly and to create generations that contribute to the progress of the country in order to be a pride of Kuwait in all forums.

Continuous development
The Group’s CEO and board member Salim Shiblaq said that Al- Arfaj Holding Group, which started its journey as a sole proprietor half a century ago, has developed in the fields of cleaning, waste management and treatment, as well as the recycling of solid household waste. He added that the sole proprietorship has developed into Al Arfaj Holding Group Company, which has established many companies in the fields mentioned above and other commercial specialties, pointing out that the latest acquisitions by the Group was Our Environment Company for the recycling of solid household waste, which became the “jewel of the Group.”

Environmental studies
Shablaq confirmed that Al-Arfaj Group prepared an economic feasibility study through internationally approved environmental study offices before deciding to set up a factory for recycling household plastic, sorting and compressing paper waste. He pointed out that the Group acquired the National Waste Management Company (KSC) in 2014, and then changed its name to Our Environment Waste Recycling Company by 2015, for the recycling all solid household waste.

The company has the right to use a land area of 100,000 square meters in South Amghara according to the license issued by the Public Authority for Industry. He added that the Group then increased the capital of Our Environment Company to two million dinars in 2016, and then added a line to sort the solid household waste and two machines for compressing classified paper waste and compress classified plastic wastes during the first quarter of 2017. He added that in the last quarter of 2017, an integrated plant was added to recycle plastic household waste in polyethylene and polypropylene, including a complete line for cutting and washing the materials and an extruding machine to melt the plastic material to obtain ready granules for export with a production capacity of 1000 tons per month.

The polyethylene and polypropylene recycling production line is the largest production line currently in the Middle East. He noted that an integrated plant was also established to treat the contaminated water produced by the operation process with a capacity amounting to the treatment of 60m3 of water per hour, in order to preserve the natural resources of the State of Kuwait, whereby the plant achieved a self sufficiency of its needs of water.

European equipments
He pointed out that all machines and equipments that have been imported, which represent the production line of all its parts are European equipment according international and modern specifications, comparable with the best international factories. He noted that all machines and equipments include the latest electronic control panels which show the cycle of production electronically and run by a few individuals, The equipments have the ability to communicate over the Internet to repair any remote faults.

Future plans
In connection with the future plans of the Company, Shiblaq said that the Company is currently preparing an economic feasibility study to add a new production line for the treatment of PET plastic, and in parallel form with this, it is conducting another feasibility study to consider the establishment of a factory for the manufacture of plastic bags of polyethylene, which includes extrusion and blowing plastic bags machines of various sizes, according to the needs of local markets, especially as they are currently manufacturing the raw material of polyethylene granules periodically.

Our Environment Company management is also preparing a study which includes the establishment of an integrated production line for the recycling of paper waste from cardboard to produce Fluting paper and Testliner, which is reused for the manufacture of multi-size carton boxes with a capacity of more than 100,000 tons annually, in order to complete the recycling cycle for this product so that the materials as the raw material for this product is currently available in the Company’s current plant and other associate factories.

Awareness and education
On the other hand, Shiblaq pointed out that one of the objectives of Al-Arfaj Holding Group Company, represented by Our Environment Company and its other affiliated companies, is to invest in the social responsibility to educate citizens about the necessity of sorting waste and transferring them to the processing plants in order to preserve the environment.

In this respect, Our Environment Company has established a lecture hall equipped with the latest educational and information means and educational documentary video programs. It has also recruited a team of lecturers specialized in this respect.

Our Environment Company invites school students and corporate employees in Kuwait to inform them of the benefits of recycling for the environment and methods of processing household wastes, and then takes them in a field visit to the production line in order to compare the theoretical information with the field information.

Safety and security
In the framework of the Company’s keenness for the safety of its employees and the safety of the factory’s guests, Shiblaq explained that the Company has developed multiple systems and manuals to maintain the safety of individuals and then train them briefl y on the safety points used before entering the operating areas. Further, the plant is equipped with an integrated fire fighting system according to the international standards and decisions of the General Fire Department. A fire fighting drill is carried out for all personnel on periodical basis.

Quality Certificates
As for the quality systems, he said that the Company believes in the need to follow all the administrative and technical systems worldwide, and has obtained the ISO certificate in a record time in the fields of management, security, safety and quality.

National personnel
Believing in its national role, Al- Arfaj Holding Group, represented by all its subsidiaries, including Our Environment Company, has been keen to rely on the national personnel and employ the Kuwaiti competent staff according to the specialties available in the field of industry

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