The 10 year agreement is in line with Emirates Steel’s strategy to reduce its environmental footprint and produce zero waste.
21 May 2019 – Abu Dhabi, UAE: Emirates Steel, the only integrated steel plant in the UAE and a subsidiary of the General Holding Corporation (SENAAT), has signed an agreement with the Finnish company, ECOFER. The agreement, due to take effect in 2020, 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 at Emirates Steel’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi between the CEO of Emirates Steel, Eng. 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.
Engineer Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Steel, said: “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 1.6M tons of slag.
“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.” he added.
Ismail Fahmy, Managing Partner at ECOFER Technologies, said: “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.”
EAF slag is a byproduct of steel manufacturing and when efficiently recycled has many uses within the construction and road industry due to its mechanical properties, strength, wear resistance and shape. Emirates Steel has successfully used its EAF slag in recent road construction within the company’s complex. Moreover, it has successfully used in manufacturing hollow blocks and interlocking blocks, which are used to build walkways within the company’s complex.
Emirates Steel’s location within Abu Dhabi has allowed block manufacturers and construction companies in Abu Dhabi to reduce their transportation costs and CO2 emitted by trucks since their requirement of natural aggregates comes from the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah or the city of Al Ain.
Emirates Steel is committed to enhancing the sustainability of its operations with the long-term goal of producing zero waste. Along with its agreement with ECOFER, Emirates Steel is continuing to implement a wide range of sustainable initiatives and projects across its integrated manufacturing facilities.