Tuesday, Jul 20, 2010
Gulf News
The main machine, which costs Dh7.14m, is expected in next two months
Sharjah The traditional way of maintaining roads might be replaced by a new method of asphalt recycling. This technology comes with the opening of Asphalt Recycling, a new laboratory and asphalt recycling unit in Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone yesterday.
“This is new in the GCC. No other country has this kind of laboratory and equipment,” Armin Janani, asphalt recycling group manager at Rad International LLC, a road construction company, told Gulf News.
“The traditional method and common way to rehabilitate a road is to remove the asphalt layer, dump it and then put a new one,” he said. “What we are offering is that we are reusing the old asphalt because the machine we’re using simultaneously grinds it and mixes it with the other material underneath.”
Janani said that besides being environmentally friendly, recycling asphalt is almost 30 per cent cheaper and 60 per cent faster than the traditional way.
Although the company doesn’t have any customers lined up yet, they are hoping to target clients such as the Roads and Transport Authority (TRA), Jebel Ali Free Zone, Hamriyah Free Zone and the municipalities of the seven emirates.
“We’re hoping to have this new business with no competitor for at least the first two or three years,” Janani said.
The new equipment and machinery has been ordered from Germany, Janani said. The main recycling machine which costs 1.5 million euros (Dh7.14 million), is expected to arrive in the UAE within the next month or two, he said. The laboratory equipment also costs 160,000 euros.
Asked when the private business investment is expected to break even, Janani said. “It’s a risky business. That’s why I can’t tell how long it’s going to take us to get the return on the investment.”
However, Janani thinks the timing is right because they’re offering a cheaper deal. “Besides, the roads are old enough for recycling,” he said.
New technology
What we are offering is that we are reusing the old asphalt because the machine we’re using simultaneously grinds it and mixes it with the other material underneath.”
Armin Janani
Asphalt recycling group manager at Rad International
By Samia Badih?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.
