Need for better e-waste recycling

Humans are becoming more and more dependent on technology with each passing day. Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are doing things which were beyond our imagination a few years ago. With this expansion and constant advancement in technology, the demand for variety and volume of electricals and electronics is increasing at a massive pace. The complexity of the build and material decides the complexity of its recycling. All these new Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) cannot be processed in recycling plants of the past. Envisaging these future challenges, Madenat Al Nokhba Recycling Services has established a brand-new recycling facility at Dubai Investment Park with upgraded and advanced recycling plants to provide improved and more sustainable services to ensure zero landfills.

Currently operating recyclers 

Most recyclers who are still using the old methods and systems of recycling are being challenged by these latest tech electrical and electronic items which paralyze them from providing improved E-waste solutions that can match the level of technology that is fast advancing. Also, they are not only faced with the challenge of unsustainable solutions, but the workers are also exposed to toxicants that affects health and environment, thereby not meeting up to one of the core values of recycling which is to create a clean and safe environment for everyone. 

Madenat’s recycling facility in Dubai

Operating in the country that thinks and acts way ahead of its time, Madenat’s Dubai based recycling facility is future ready with different recycling plants to recycle the advanced appliances. The WEEE received in the facility is first weighed, sorted, and separated into various waste categories (for example, hazardous and non-hazardous) and everything is recorded and documented. Larger items (like white goods) are dismantled manually into various material components and then recycled per material component using the advanced automated E-waste machines. For items that fall under the category of hazardous waste like used batteries, once received, the terminals are secured, repacked, and then shipped according to the Basel Convention requirements to our partners abroad for proper and environmentally safe recycling processes. Another hazardous waste material is used lighting systems, like fluorescent tube lights/bulbs/lamps. Once received at Madenat’s facility, these are loaded to the lamps processing plant which operates an advanced automated system that doesn’t only crush the glass but also separates the phosphorus powder from the glass. This further goes through a distillation process to produce refined mercury used by end users for remanufacturing. 

WEEE recycling at the facility

Madenat’s WEEE recycling plant handles appliances from residential, commercial, medical, and even the military. The Eddy current technology enables separation of the ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the processing of WEEE. There is also plastic, glass and some other hazardous, non-hazardous components retrieved which are sent to down-stream vendors for further processing and remanufacturing of new items which are brought back into the circular economy. 

The process of recycling the electronics with display screens is unique at Madenat’s recycling facility. Nowadays, not only TV, computer, phones but watches, kitchen gadgets and even children’s toys come with LCD display screens. That is why Madenat’s recycling processes are advanced and paramount because they have a solution for the LCD screens which many recyclers don’t. Most screens contain mercury. Which if not handled properly, can result to an unhealthy environment. Hence, separation of screens from the gadgets before processing them their automated lamps recycling plant is important. 

Lamp Processing Unit

Most amount of mercury is found in lamps and lighting equipment. Recyclers who only crush the lamps to separate glass, plastic and metal, cannot retrieve them to the purest of their form. Lighting equipment contains mercury and other hazardous materials. If crushed and the components are not separated from the main hazardous component which is the phosphorus powder, this will mix and everything will be contaminated, thereby affecting the downstream vendor’s chain and ultimately the circular economy. Hence, using the right technology to recycle lamps becomes crucial. Madenat’s lamp processing unit is periodically upgraded to provide better processing of any kind of lighting equipment.

Recycling is making sure that nothing reaches the landfill. Zero-landfill policy is at the heart of all the services Madenat provides and hence they thrive to achieve environmental excellence in their recycling services by constantly seeking to investigate and provide improved and latest solutions to the clients. This is the reason behind the annual upgradation of their recycling plants. They upgrade their recycling technology to ensure proper recycling of the new and improved gadgets which are entering the market.

Commenting on it, Joseph Nforbin, Managing Director, Madenat Al Nokhba Recycling Services LLC said, “I have always focused on becoming a “One Stop” solution provider for E-waste recycling here in the United Arab Emirates. Our state-of-the-art E-waste and lamp recycling plants enables us to process fluorescent lamps, mercury devices or medical equipment with mercury content and any kind or E-waste to become the complete recycling solution provider. I take pride in it and will continue to upgrade the technology to suit the future gadgets.” He also added that, “With the ongoing Expo 2020 in Dubai, where incredible technology is being displayed from all around the world, I am glad that sustainability is given equal importance. Madenat is happy to add to the conversation and present the recycling facility made for the new world in the making.”

For more details visit www.madenatrecycling.ae or call at +971 43271778.