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Enviroserve solving tomorrows problems today

Stuart Fleming, CEO, Enviroserve, talks about the company’s pioneering efforts in the electronics recycling and refrigerant gas sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)


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Stuart Fleming, CEO, Enviroserve, talks about the company’s pioneering efforts in the electronics recycling and refrigerant gas sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the significance of proper management of e-scrap, the company’s innovative solutions as well as long term plans to continue providing the region’s customers with sustainable and multiple recycling options. 

Stuart-Fleming

“Enviroserve has a culture of being a pioneer and encouraging innovation. We look at the future waste streams and develop solutions to address them. Electronic waste management is one such example,” says Stuart Fleming, CEO, Enviroserve. “We all know about the industrial revolution and the impact on the environment it caused. In the 1990s the world began its next revolutionary cycle – technology. Technology requires electronics. As the technology revolution expands globally, more and more electronics are being manufactured to support this expansion,” he says. For example, today, we have smart cities and the Internet of Things. 

CNET, in an article, reported there are 7.2 billion SIM cards in the world in 2014. Thirty years ago, it was zero. According to Mobile Insights in 2013, the number of devices expected to be connected to the Internet of Things ranges from 50 billion to 75 billion by 2020. Technology also began evolving very fast, and as a result, electronics have shorter and shorter lifespans. CEA’s recent CE Product Lifecycle reported, that on average, consumers expect most consumer electronics to last approximately five years, Fleming explains. “We recognised early on, that electronics was going to be a substantial and increasing waste stream in the future. In 2005, Enviroserve was set up, and it is regarded as a pioneer in electronic waste management in the region,” he states.

Why is it important to manage electronic waste properly?

“Safety – both in terms of data security and in terms of hazardous waste,” the CEO notes. Although electronic scrap contains materials that can be recycled, it also contains hazardous materials like beryllium, lead, mercury and PCB. These materials pose long term dangers to people and the environment if not managed properly. “There is also the issue of data security. Sensitive and confidential information is sometimes stored on devices and without the correct measures being taken, unscrupulous people could steal it and use it for identity theft and even worse, blackmail! As more and more electronic items are disposed of, the problems of data security and hazardous waste are compounded,” he says. Since formation, Enviroserve has recycled more than two million items safely and securely. “That’s two million items of potentially hazardous waste material that could have gone to landfills, and caused long term environmental damage!”

Encouraging further development of the electronic scrap management market

As pioneers, they have seen the market change and today, more people and companies are aware of their social and environmental obligations. As a result, there is growing momentum by people and companies to ensure that these responsibilities are addressed, says Fleming. “Social media and the internet have also helped speed up such awareness. They can quickly highlight, both an organisation’s good practices, as well as negative practices, such as dumping electronic scrap in developing countries.” Governments in the region are promoting environmental protection and sustainability as a way of life, “though more could be done”. Currently there is no legislation or regulations, addressing electronic waste, in a number of countries in the Middle East. As a result, the recycling rate in the region is low. Most items either go to landfills or into unregulated grey areas.

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If electronic waste is recycled within a country, it protects the environment and creates jobs, he remarks. A number of countries in the region are encouraging manufacturing, and the materials recovered from recycling could be used as inputs for these manufacturing plants – thereby creating a circular economy and providing economic benefits. It will also make recycling a more sustainable market, the CEO comments. “Today, most small scale recyclers are opportunistic and dependent on commodity prices which fluctuate. When prices are high, these recyclers are active. Even then, they focus on salvaging the higher value components and dispose the balance elsewhere.  When prices are low, they focus on other more valuable materials, ignoring electronic scrap. These opportunistic players disrupt the development of a long term sustainable electronic scrap management market. Some form of government led rules and regulations would go a long way in assisting a more structured, consistent market development in electronic waste management,” he underlines.

A pioneering and innovative facility – Gulf Electronics Recycling Plant

“As our long term commitment to the region, Enviroserve is building the largest electronic scrap recycling facility in the region. The plant represents an investment of over USD$25 million and will use state-of-the-art equipment to process 40,000 tons of electronic scrap annually,” says Fleming. “It will be the first such facility in the region. We believe the facility will underpin the development of a robust and sustainable regional electronic scrap management market. Apart from environmental protection, the facility will also help the local economy. This will be done through creation of highly skilled jobs. It will also help to provide materials for local industries, thereby helping the region develop a circular economy. Hazardous materials will be managed in a professional manner to prevent long term environmental damage. Ultimately, we intend to develop the facility to become the centre of knowledge and expertise for electronic scrap management in the Middle East.”

“A climate change pioneer” - Refrigerant Gas Recycling

“Again, Enviroserve are the pioneers,” the CEO says, adding that in 2007, Enviroserve was the first and only company in the UAE to offer refrigerant gas recycling. “Leaving aside federal and municipal law offences, refrigerant gases, if vented into the atmosphere, directly harms our environment. With our facility, we can reclaim the gas and recycle it into technically certified “as new” gas. This new gas is then sold back to the client at 50% of the cost of buying new gas.” In his view, it’s a win win partnership with the client – clients save money, protect the environment and comply with federal and local laws. “In 2015, the United National Climate Change Conference signed an agreement on climate change in Paris. In the UAE, we now have a Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, which reflects UAE’s commitment towards climate change. By using our refrigerant gas reclaim and recycling system, everyone from residents to corporate to government can do their part in preventing climate change.” 

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Closing the loop – Combining product and brand security with recycling

Over time, Enviroserve has received many requests from customers to carry out secure destruction, says Fleming. “These clients had items such as confiscated goods, expired goods, counterfeit goods, which needed to be destroyed to prevent further circulation. The traditional method was to dispose of these items in the landfill after destruction. We recognised that these materials, though destroyed, could be diverted away from landfills. Our motto is “Saving the Planet. Naturally.” We wanted to find a win win solution that matches both the client’s requirement and environmental protection.

To do so, Enviroserve set up a product destruction and recycling division.” This division ensures the items are destroyed (through a range of dismantling and shredding processes) and then segregated into different recyclable material streams, he says. “We began sourcing the ultimate end users to ensure a chain of custody for recyclables recovered from the destruction process. For instance, an airline wanted to destroy its pilot and crew uniforms. The assignment was delivered to us. After investigation into and assessment of the options available, Enviroserve identified an optimal solution. The uniforms were shredded and sent to a specialised textile recycling facility overseas to be converted as inputs for new products made from recycled fibres.”

Latest innovative solutions – Green Truck and Full Circle

“Enviroserve is again redefining the traditional waste and recycling industries by rolling out disruptive business models,” states the CEO. Green Truck, an award winning social enterprise that is also a successful business model is now part of Enviroserve. It currently provides bespoke recycling collection services to residential and office premises across the UAE and will be rolled out across the region, he says. “Green Truck will redefine how recycling collection is done in the region. Full Circle is a technology based, scalable platform that will disrupt the traditional municipal and private sector waste management in the region.”

Community and sustainability initiatives

Whilst Enviroserve is a commercial entity, it also operates like a social enterprise “as we believe in giving back to the community and in supporting charitable activities,” says Fleming. “Over the years, Enviroserve has given hundreds of talks at schools, rolled out environmental campaigns and provided financial support to organisations like Emirates Environmental Group, Emirates Airlines Foundation and Gulf4Good. Although we are already ISO 9001, 14001and 18001 certified, we will also be joining the UN Global Compact and Carbon Disclosure Project as our commitment to be responsible corporate citizens.”

Future plans – Regional PPPs, global contracts and a global presence

“We were the first company in the UAE to sign a PPP partnership for environmental protection. This year we will sign be signing several more in the Middle East and Africa,” the CEO says. Enviroserve has also built up a presence in a number of countries globally and as such, they are able to provide global electronic waste management services, he adds. “We have signed our first contract with a multi-billion AED turnover company, and expect to be signing several more contracts over the next few months. Although Enviroserve has a global network, we will be deepening and expanding that presence over the next few years with our various offerings. Through our culture of pioneering and innovation, Enviroserve will continue to push the boundaries in doing what is right in the long term commercial and environmental interests in the countries we operate in,” Fleming underlines.