Recycling factory to tackle mess of tires

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Road-friendly items produced

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 2: It seems the estimated 40 million used tires that were moved from the Erhiya area in South Saad Al-Abdullah to Salmi area will remain on the streets of Kuwait, but in an innovative manner, as the tire recycling plant is working on them and extracting environmentally clean products, which will be added to the asphalt mixture that will be spread on the surface of the streets of Kuwait, reports Al-Rai daily. While touring the recycling plant located at 67 kilo mark on Salmi Road, the daily met the CEO of the plant, affiliated with the Abisco International General Trading Company, Eng. Alaa Hassan. She explained that the tire recycling project began in 2016, and its production began in 2019.

The factory was established on land that was allocated to it by the Public Authority for Industry with a production capacity to extract materials from three million tires annually. The factory’s work depends on recycling tires with the aim of transforming them into various products that meet the daily needs of the Kuwaiti market. It is built on an area of 20,000 square metres at a cost of KD 4 million, and does not impose any financial burden on the state. The main objective behind establishing the factory is to clean Kuwait’s land of used tires, which have exceeded 40 million in number after being accumulated over the years in the landfill.

This had caused great visual and environmental pollution, and necessitated the elimination of this phenomenon by recycling those tires and utilizing them with other products. It is environmentally clean and has several uses. Also, the transportation of these tires took about six months, which can be regarded as a great achievement, considering the quantity of the tires. Eng. Hassan stressed that the Environment Public Authority (EPA) played a major role in implementing this project, without costing the state a penny, as it relied on the private sector to transport tires and remove the environmental and residential obstacles that caused headache for the government due to the large quantity of the used tires and the lack of solutions offered to deal with them. She also praised the Public Authority for Industry, which granted the factory the appropriate land it needed as a kind of governmental support for the private sector to participate in saving the Kuwaiti environment by reusing used tires. Eng. Hassan indicated that these tires were assembled, cut and recycled to manufacture Kuwaiti products with high efficiency and quality that were of great demand in neighbouring countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, as well as other Asian countries such as India, on long-term contracts. Also, the factory is able to meet the daily needs of the Kuwaiti market from all educational, industrial and service sectors. Regarding the Kuwaiti products, Eng. Alaa Hassan said, “The factory produces rubber granules of various sizes, including what is added to the asphalt mixture for paving roads. These are supposed to be safer and of better quality for asphalting roads, because it is the most economical and cheapest in terms of cost and its high efficiency on the roads”.

She stated that the factory manufactures flooring for use in gyms, children’s playgrounds, sports clubs and walkways, adding that it also produces different types and sizes of plant beds that can be used in homes, farms, and others. In the same context, Eng. Hassan urged the Ministry of Electricity and Water to deliver electricity to the factory, following the construction of the power station and the payment of the required fees. She expressed hope for speeding up the delivery of electricity to complete the required work and stabilize the operational status of the factory. Eng, Hassan said, “The factory relies on diesel to operate and pay thousands of dinars per month for operating the machines, air conditioning, lighting, workers’ housing and others, especially after the diesel subsidy was lifted from some factories. The Ministry of Finance has promised us to restore the support, given the factory’s situation and its location in Salmi area”. She appealed to the Ministry of Public Works to build a road from the factory to the highway, revealing that, “The current road is unpaved and full of dirt. There is no lighting or signs showing directions. This gives an uncivilized image to the factory and the country for visitors from abroad. Also, there are mines and cluster bombs which have been buried since the brutal invasion. They appear more during the winter season, and this causes terror and fear among the employees and the owners of the trucks that come to the factory”.

This news has been read 23094 times!

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