MUSCAT -- A corporate strategy drawn up by the government-owned Oman Environmental Services Holding Company SAOC (Be'ah) envisions the establishment of two subsidiaries to manage industrial and general wastes respectively. The two subsidiaries, both wholly owned entities of Be'ah, will between them, oversee the safe, efficient and sustainable treatment and disposal of all solid waste streams generated across Oman, according to a high-ranking official. Mohammed Sulaiman al Harthy, Executive Vice President of Be'ah, said the two spinoffs will have clearly demarcated remits with regard to solid waste management. Included within the scope of industrial wastes are Oil and Chemical waste, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), Healthcare Waste (HCW), Lead Acid Batteries (LAB), and End of Life Vehicles (ELV).
General Wastes, on the other hand, constitute municipal waste, green waste, End of Life Tyres (ELT), construction and demolition waste (C&D), and other waste streams, the official said in a recent presentation outlining Be'ah's mandate. Importantly, the two subsidiaries are part of a wider, multi-year strategy launched by Be'ah to restructure, corporatise and privatize waste management activities across the Sultanate, according to the official. Significant headway has been made in the pursuit of objectives enshrined by this strategy across all the waste streams falling within Be'ah's broad remit, he noted.
In the case of municipal waste, for example, Be'ah has plans to phase out all 317 dumpsites located around the country by the end of 2015. These landfills, which currently receive the estimated 1.7 million tonnes of municipal waste generated annually, are deemed as unsuitable from the environmental and hygiene standpoints, and will be remediated and permanently shut. They will be replaced by 13 engineered landfills -- roughly one for each governorate -- and supported by 36 transfer stations, Al Harthy said. Also as part of Be'ah's ambitious strategy, healthcare waste management practices will undergo a complete makeover. With the exception of healthcare waste from Muscat Governorate, which is predominantly incinerated at a facility located in Al Amerat, refuse generated by hospitals around the Sultanate typically ends up in landfills in one of the banes of today's solid waste disposal practices.
Be'ah aims to tackle this issue by setting up state-of-the-art incinerators in Sohar and Dhofar, while upgrading the existing facility in Muscat. These investments and measures will pave the way for the management of all healthcare waste in the country to transfer to Be'ah's jurisdiction with effect from 2015, said Al Harthy. At the same time, the holding company also plans to put in place the requisite infrastructure for the treatment and disposal of the massive amounts of hazardous waste being churned out by Oman's dominant oilfield sector, as well as the industrial hubs in operation or under development around the country. New landfills for hazardous waste are planned in hubs like Sohar and Duqm, while slag waste landfills are proposed in Sohar. Treatment will be done at a central facility that will cater for all hazardous waste streams.
Be'ah's strategy for the solid waste sector also envisions a major role for corporate firms in the collection, treatment, disposal and recycling of some waste streams. According to the official, opportunities abound for private companies -- small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in particular -- in the collection and transportation of End of Life Tyres (ELT), Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Construction & Demolition waste. These functions are proposed to be corporatised and outsourced to the private sector. Likewise, there are opportunities for joint venture partnerships or independent private investments in recycling initiatives, notably in the management of End of Life Tyres, he added.
Importantly, 2015 marks an important milestone in a timeline drawn up by Be'ah to transition from its current developmental phase to the regulatory and management phase. Phase 1 of the corporate strategy timeline, which runs from 2012 to 2015, focuses on the establishment of all necessary infrastructure across all waste streams, as well as the restructuring of municipal waste collection services. Also during this phase, Be'ah will be looking to put in place an optimal administrative framework for the solid waste sector. In Phase 2, which kicks off from 2016, Be'ah will move into sector management mode. It will oversee the implementation of all waste management initiatives in line with international standards, Al Harthy stated.
© Oman Daily Observer 2014
