Emirates Steel has signed an agreement with Finnish company, Ecofer, due to take effect in 2020, which will provide Emirates Steel with sustainable slag management services for the next 10 years, in line with the company's long-term commitment and objective of eventually producing zero waste.
Under this new agreement, signed in Abu Dhabi between the CEO of Emirates Steel, Saeed Al Remeithi, and the managing partner of Ecofer Technologies, Ismail Fahmy, Ecofer will process slag from Emirates Steel's Electric Arc Furnace and Ladle Furnace. The slag, which will be crushed down to one to five millimeter granules, will be sold as raw product for the construction industry, after any remaining metals have been extracted from the slag. In addition to waste slag, Ecofer will also process refractory, heat-resistant materials which are exhausted during manufacturing.
With this new agreement, Emirates Steel's slag will be processed and recycled more efficiently. This will enable the company to continue delivering high quality products at competitive costs to customers around the world, while further enhancing the sustainability of its operations by facilitating the reuse of slag as construction material.
Emirates Steel has been recycling its Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) slag product since 2014, producing roughly 2,800,000 tons of EAF slag over the past five years and successfully selling it for use in the construction industry.
"As one of the largest integrated manufacturers of finished steel products in the region, we produce 800,000 tons of slag annually, and we are committed to finding ways to mitigate our impact on the environment. By deploying advanced technological solutions, such as those offered by Ecofer, we will be processing 800k tons per year, so over the first two years we will process around 1.6 million tonnes of slag," said Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi. We look forward to further reduce the company's environmental footprint and enhancing our manufacturing and sustainable practices, with the long-term objective of eventually producing zero waste. Our partnership with Ecofer falls in line with our vision of becoming a world class steel manufacturer that provides the highest quality products, services and solutions to customers, whilst promoting sustainable solutions at the core of our business."
"It is our pleasure to sign this agreement with Emirates Steel, and be able to partner with such a significant player in the heavy metals sector. This initiative, our first partnership in the UAE, is part of our expanding global business strategy, as we make strategic partnerships across the Middle East, following our first successful agreement with Ezz Steel in Egypt earlier this year. We are proud to sign this agreement with Emirates Steel today," said Ismail Fahmy.
- business@khaleejtimes.com
Published: Tue 21 May 2019, 4:52 PM
Updated: Tue 21 May 2019, 6:54 PM