Bee’ah and Chinook Sciences tackle plastic waste in UAE waste-to-hydrogen partnership

01 Jun 2021 --- Bee’ah, a leading Middle Eastern environmental, recycling and waste management company, is partnering with UK waste recovery specialist Chinook Sciences to create the first waste-to-hydrogen project in the UAE using non-recyclable plastic waste.

The project includes a green hydrogen (non reliant on fossil fuels) generation plant and a hydrogen vehicle fueling station, which is a development of the two companies’ existing US$180 million agreement for waste gasification to energy. 

The plant seeks to address the increased market demand in the region for new renewable energy sources, such as green hydrogen, and help reduce the country’s plastic waste crisis. 

Speaking to PackagingInsights, Khaled Al Huraimel, Bee’ah CEO, explains the company owns and operates multiple recycling facilities, including a material recovery facility that sorts recyclable waste from non-recyclable waste in Sharjah, UAE. 

“We serve millions of residents across the UAE, including the Emirate of Sharjah, through waste management services from city cleaning and waste collection to recycling for the Emirate of Sharjah.”

RODECS technology 
The waste-to-hydrogen process will use Chinook Sciences’ patented RODECS gasification and pyrolysis technology, which breaks down hydrocarbons from waste through advanced thermal treatment to release and recover green hydrogen.

The waste-to-hydrogen plant will be adjacent to a fueling station so that the project can overcome cost challenges associated with hydrogen transportation. The UAE is estimated to be the world’s fourth largest consumer of PET water bottles.

The fueling station will use green hydrogen generated from non-recyclable plastic and wood waste at the waste-to-hydrogen plant. The green hydrogen will be fed into the fueling station to power hydrogen vehicles.

When green hydrogen is used in vehicles, it emits only water and produces no carbon emissions. 

Al Huraimel says the project represents a step on the road to a circular economy in the Middle East.

“This project will showcase the potential of waste-to-hydrogen. Bee’ah has always recognized the value of energy recovery from waste, and through this new project, we aim to support a circular economy across multiple fronts throughout the region.”

Plastic waste in the UAE
The UAE has a serious plastic waste crisis, according to EcoMENA, an organization that looks for solutions to the country’s pollution issues. 

Each UAE resident throws away 450 plastic bottles per year, according to waste management industry estimates. In 2011, research put the country’s aggregate annual waste at 4.3 billion bottles, with only a fraction of those recycled.

These levels make the UAE the fourth largest consumer of PET bottled water on Earth. 

Around 11 billion plastic bags are also used annually, according to statistics from UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water, adding up to an annual overall waste of 912.5 kg per capita. 

Estimates also suggest that 50 percent of camel deaths in the UAE every year are from plastic waste ingestion, which can lead to massive calcified balls of plastic in the stomachs eventually killing the animals.

Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE’s seven emirates, announced plans last year to ban all single-use plastics in its territory due to the severity of the crisis. 

Bee’ah’s waste conversion project will aid these ambitions, alongside other commitments by the country’s leadership to reduce carbon emissions by 24 percent by 2030.

Rabobank predicts advanced recycling plants to double to around 140 plants globally by 2025 as regulatory and public demand for recycled plastics packaging drives “huge” investment.

By Louis Gore-Langton