Reinventing the wheel: inside the Al Ain factory recycling 24,000 tonnes of tyres a year


Haneen Dajani
  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi is delivering a boost to the environment thanks to a major drive to recycle thousands of tonnes of used tyres every year.

At the Gulf Rubber Factory – operated by Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) – old tyres are transformed into everything from shooting range tiles, to sound isolators and even comfortable flooring for animals.

The Al Ain plant, which opened in 2012, operates round the clock six days a week and has the capacity to process up to 2,000 tonnes of tyres a month.

“It is important to recycle tyres instead of dumping them at the landfills, because here we can produce useful and environmentally friendly products,” said Abdullah Al Kaabi, mechanical project engineer at Tadweer.

This also “eliminates the environmental risk of [leaving] accumulated tyres” out in the open, he said.

Recycling tyres comes with an economic value, Mr Al Kaabi said.

“We are generating locally made, high-quality products that are replacing imported products.”

The factory also exports its end-product to countries such as Oman.

So far, 40 per cent of the factory's recycled goods have been exported.

At the 37,000-square-metre plant, the tyres go through several cutting and separation stages using a multipurpose high-tech machine.

Tyres are placed on a "granulation line" to turn them into rubber granules or compounds of various sizes, and to extract steel.

The whole process takes about 45 minutes.

The steel is later sold to factories, and the rubber is shaped and coloured based on clients’ requests.

"Many like to use [recycled rubber] as horse mats in stables; horses feel more comfortable standing on it," Mr Al Kaabi said.

“In European countries, like Denmark for example, they use it as flooring for cows so they can be more comfortable and increase their production; here we applied the idea for horses so they can become faster.”

The rubber tiles produced at the factory can also be used as safety flooring in children’s play areas and gyms.

Score

Third Test, Day 2

New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)

Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings

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Types of fraud

Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

* Nada El Sawy

A new relationship with the old country

Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates

The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:

ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.

ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.

ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.

ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.

DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.

Signed

Geoffrey Arthur  Sheikh Zayed

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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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