COP27 SOLUTIONS: UAE’s BEEAH Group turns waste into energy

The more population increases, the larger amounts of waste there will be. This is a problem facing several regions around the world, particularly the Middle East and North Africa, where the number of people reached approximately 472.5 million in 2021 and is expected to rise by 70 percent by 2050, according to World Bank data from September 2018.

Yet, waste - even non-recyclable - is a tremendous source of energy. UAE’s Sharjah waste-to-energy project by BEEAH Group has adapted an integrated system of cleaning, garbage collecting, and then producing energy from waste. The project focuses on energy production from non-recyclable materials, becoming the first ever plant to adopt this mechanism in the UAE and the MENA region.

Non-recyclable waste is being collected to be sent to a waste management plant for incineration to produce renewable energy that serves 28,000 houses nationwide in the UAE, said Hind Al Huwaidi, Managing Director of BEEAH Education, in an interview with Jusoor Post at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai.

In the UAE, a total of 300,000 tons of waste is being recycled into renewable energy with a capacity of 30 megawatts, she added, noting that they participated in COP27 to showcase the UAE’s noticeable achievements in the waste management sector in Egypt. 

Waste-to-green hydrogen 

Electricity production is not the only benefit that humans can get from their wastes, as green hydrogen can be extracted from liquid waste, said Mohamed Al Hosani, Chief Sustainability Officer at BEEAH Group, in an interview with Jusoor Post during the COP27 events.

“We also have another plant working on producing green hydrogen from [liquid] waste in Sharjah,” he said, adding that the process of producing green hydrogen is not limited only to water.

Normally, green hydrogen is produced by using electrolyzers to split water particles (H2O) into hydrogen, which is used as a source for energy, and oxygen. But, when it comes to liquid waste, it will be generated from methane (CH4), Al Hosani said.

“People are in need of water, so why do we split water molecules apart to get the hydrogen” as long as there is another way to get it from other liquid in an eco-friendly manner, he said.

“So, we make use of the unwanted liquid waste to get energy, as treated water could be used in the green hydrogen production,” he continued.

Commenting on a question regarding the high costs of the waste-to-green hydrogen mechanism, Al Hosani said, “What is priceless? Human life or money?”

Overseas scaling up

In the MENA region, waste-to-energy technology has started to scale up, starting from Saudi Arabia’s Medina to Egypt’s New Administrative Capital and Sharm El-Sheikh.

On September 27, BEEAH Group signed an agreement with the Egyptian government to clean and collect the garbage in Sharm El-Sheikh over the upcoming 10 years, to be the second agreement with the Egyptian government, as the first one is a 15-year deal for waste management in the New Administrative Capital.

“The UAE experience of waste management will be applied in Sharm El-Sheikh and the New Administrative Capital. In Sharjah, there are bins outside every house. Each bin will be allocated for different types of waste, and then vehicles affiliated with BEEAH Tandeef will collect the waste and send it to the recycling waste center, which hosts 10 facilities, and each facility is designed for recycling a different type of waste, said Huwaidi.

The company would be responsible for cleaning up the city by using solar-powered smart vehicles and smart trash bins. The first focus will be on cleaning and collecting the garbage and recyclable items, she added. 

Meanwhile, Al Hosani said that the Sharm El-Sheikh agreement entered into effect one week ago with the start of the COP27 conference.

Regarding to the New Administrative Capital deal, Al Hosani said that project in the future will turn into an integrated environmental element for producing energy from waste.

“We are in discussions with other countries [like Japan and Spain] as we aspire to other places outside the UAE,” he said, adding, “The company is sharing experiences to be updated with the latest technologies, so we are working on formulating what we should to do more to keep up with the COP28 due to convene in the UAE next year.”

One of the future plans is building a facility for producing plastic particles that can be used in recycled plastic products, he said.

BEEAH Group started working in Sharm El Sheikh City one week ago when the COP27 conference kicked off- Jusoor Post