Emirates Global Aluminium was the site of an event dedicated to promoting the reuse of industrial wastes yesterday.
The event, which was held under the government’s “UAE Toward Cleaner Production” initiative, was held to highlight strategies for mitigating UAE industry’s impacts upon the environment and to improve its global competitiveness.
Among the highlights of the government’s initiatives was the recycling of 37 thousand metric tons of spent pot lining last year. The spent pot lining was supplied to cement plants who, in turn, used it as fuel and for its refractory properties in new, temperature-resistant cement.
According to Minister of Climate Change and Environment Dr. Thani Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi, EGA’s recycling efforts are a blueprint for other UAE companies’ efforts at sustainability.
“We are very proud of the remarkable achievement of EGA and its cement industry partners. They have set an example of how industries can work together to make waste productive rather than a problem. With creativity and cooperation, one industry’s waste can be another industry’s feedstock. This will benefit our industries and help preserve our environment while strengthening the global concept of circular economy.”
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA Abdulla Kalban highlighted his company’s outlook on waste reduction and the circular economy during the event.
“All industries produce materials that we currently call ‘wastes’. If we think differently, in future there will be no such thing as waste, just by-products with other uses. In the longer term everything is recyclable. We just need to find the right recycling solution.”
Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Global Aluminium is an aluminium conglomerate created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA had an estimated enterprise value of US$15 billion at the time the merger took place. The firm is owned equally by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Emirates Global Aluminium holds interests in bauxite/alumina and primary aluminium smelting.