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Experts discuss ways to unlock region's C&D waste potential

DUBAI, July 19, 2021

The forecast of the silica sand market in KSA, the potential offered by the use of wash plants and unlocking the value of C&D waste were the focus of the seminars targeted at the Middle East and Africa region held by wet processing technology manufacturer CDE during a recent virtual symposium, 
 
Across three days, CDE experts led the seminars that catered to the company’s global audience.
 
At the lead seminar for the MEA region, CDE’s Regional Manager Ruchin Garg and Hatem Ibrahim, Managing Director at Mineral Processing Engineering & Consulting (MPEC), discussed the challenges and opportunities in Saudi Arabia regarding maximising the silica sand market potential.
 
"The last decade showed a fluctuation in silica sand consumptions in several industries and reached the lowest level in 2009 due to the global recession. Due to the variety of products and the new or future developments in applications, the long-term forecast of silica sand requires nonconventional methods of production," remarked Ibrahim.
 
On the topic of transforming recycled products, CDE’s Eunan Kelly said: "Today's customers have high expectations of the technology, they want recycled products that are comparable to virgin materials and that expectation helps drive that technology forward."
 
The event followed a hugely successful 2020 inaugural conference, responding to a desire for industry professionals to engage in global learning and networking in the absence of international tradeshows and in-person conventions.
 
To support the continued sharing of insights and facilitating pertinent discussions regarding the global market, CDE once again brought together industry leaders and programmed a series of dynamic and beneficial panel discussions and presentations that covered sectors including sand and aggregates, construction and demolition waste recycling, industrial sands, mining, and wastewater.
 
Garg pointed out that most of silica sand deposit was of good quality starting from 80% and above. However, for producers to add value, a beneficiation and processing plant is recommended so as to reach high purity silica sand that can be used in different applications, it stated.
 
CDE is currently supporting many companies in MEA to realise the hidden value in their operations.
 
In a panel discussion between Garg, Doğan Ozel, Business Development Manager for MEA at CDE, and a customer Scott Watson, CEO of Kunooz Oman Holding, Watson detailed his experience of venturing into wet processing and the impact CDE products have had in transforming unused waste streams into valuable sand and aggregates.
 
"Being modular, the plant was easy to install and produced a high-quality sand for in-house use in block manufacture and readymix concrete (RMC), thus reducing our dependence on dredged sand. When we moved to another quarry within the group, being modular meant that our plant made that transition also and it is still in operation 22 years after purchase," he added.
 
The final session for the MEA market day of the virtual event involved an engaging panel discussion that explored the global, regional and local viewpoint of unlocking the value of C&D waste in MEA. 
 
Led by Garg, the panel consisted of Eunan Kelly, CDE Head of Business Development for Northern Europe, Nisrine El Hougeiri, Director of Environment Division at Laceco and Ahmed Taher, General Manager of Al Dhafra Recycling Industries.
 
The participants highlighted the challenges and successes of C&D waste recycling in MEA, as well as what the future looks like and how technology providers, consultants and contractors can help further drive and raise greater awareness within the region C&D waste recycling in the MEA region.
 
"The construction industry is one of the world’s largest consumers of energy and raw materials using almost 40% of resources and 17% of freshwater reserves," remarked El Hougeiri, adding that there are 120 million tonnes per year of C&D waste, approximately 55% of the total waste stream generated in the gulf region alone.
 
The packed three-day programme featured 16 expert discussions involving almost 50 speakers.
 
CEO Marc Jennings said: "In 2020, despite the global circumstances, CDE utilised its network to bring together industry leaders and professionals virtually to discuss the prevalent issues of the day. We are proud that in 2021, we were able to build upon this and host our second Engineering Insights virtual symposium."
 
"We have continued to facilitate global learning and our conference was once again a huge success, as 600 industry professionals registered, engaging with our event from around the world," noted Jennings.
 
"Challenges in our industry such as water management, sand depletion and sustainable mining continue to dominate important conversations, and we believe it is of great importance that industry experts sustain these virtual discussions in order to aid progression, indeed as the world progresses out of the global pandemic," he added.-TradeArabia News Service



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