Wet Washing Systems for Construction and Demolition Waste: an Emerging Key Trend in the MENA Construction Sector

In 2008 Abdullah Rafea, assistant general director at the Health and Environmental Services Sector at Dubai Municipality announced that a total of 30,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste was created every day in Dubai, due to increase to 35,000 tonnes per day by 2014, bringing Dubai in the top 10 of world waste producers. The UAE Law Blog starkly compared this daily tonnage of waste to ‘the weight of 150 fully-grown blue whales’. Abdullah Rafea urged that, combined with the implementation of new legislative requirements to divert C&D waste from growing landfills, new technologies should be developed to offer alternatives and solutions should be implemented as a matter of urgency.

But Dubai is not the only country to be affected by the issue of construction and demolition (C&D) waste disposal. As the construction industry continues to develop at speed across North Africa and Middle Eastern regions, legislation on landfill management will only be efficient if combined with innovative C&D waste disposal solutions that are adapted to the needs of each individual construction site or quarry.
Compelled by legal requirements and enticed by the availability of viable alternatives, the European construction industry has already embraced wet washing as a value for money – and environmentally-friendly – way to dispose of C&D waste.

Boasting the largest wet washing plant for construction and demolition waste in the world, designed and built by CDE Global, Norwegian company Velde Pukk[1] reflected on their success. "We opened discussions with CDE a number of years ago as we see the huge opportunity presented by the recycling of C&D waste to high quality, high value recycled sand and aggregates with a wide range of applications" said Managing Director of Velde Pukk, Mr Egil Velde. "We visited a number of existing CDE installations and have watched very closely the technological innovations from CDE in recent years, which combine to maximise material quality and minimise waste from the process.

"We are a well-established and respected name in this area and are providing material to a large number of local projects on a daily basis" explains Egil Velde. "Our investment in the first wet processing plant for C&D waste in Norway is a symbol of our success.”

In the case of Velde Pukk, just as with all of CDE Global’s customers, engagement, communication and flexibility are key to the success of a truly bespoke and innovative project that guarantees minimal installation time and optimal return on investment. 
Spotting the range of opportunities offered by wet washing plants for C&D waste, a delegation from Tunisia took part in the three-day demonstration event organised for 70 local and international companies at the Velde Pukk Sandnes quarry near the town of Stavanger, where the impressive 300tph plant recently opened.

Ruchin Garg, CDE Global Business Development Manager for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), welcomes the growing interest for effective and value for money systems delivered by wet washing plants for C&D waste in the MENA region. 
He said: “The cost saving benefits realised as a result of the diversion from landfill are a major attraction to MENA-based construction companies. With a proven track record of excellence in the development of washing installations for C&D waste, CDE Global experts work with clients to address their specific requirements and overcome any challenges they face. They manage project design, delivery and installation to respect the essential daily operations of the existing plants on site and minimise commissioning time.

“In addition the flexibility offered by the CDE equipment is a very attractive proposition to companies that want the option to expand their operations in the future. In the case of Velde Pukk, CDE Global experts looked at the overburden and determined that we could design a plant that would allow them to not only recycle the C&D waste but also to recover material from the overburden which could subsequently be used in their integrated operations. This type of thinking can be adapted in any country, to suit any company’s circumstances."

“Now is the perfect time for companies in North Africa and the Middle East to explore solutions beyond standard installations and discover how a tailor-made washing plant for C&D waste designed and built from scratch in our production facilities, with input from the customer at every stage of the process, can add to their business in terms of return on investment, quality end products and future development prospects.”

[1] Velde Pukk started trading by producing aggregates for road and pipe construction from their quarry in Sandnes. The company has expanded significantly in the last decade, beginning with the introduction of an asphalt plant at Sandnes quarry in 2006. By 2007 they had built what they say is the largest, most modern and environmentally friendly production facilities for crushed rock processing and asphalt production in the world. This was followed in 2008 by the establishment of a contracting business for road construction and in 2009 a ready mix concrete plant was introduced to the site.