Bee’ah Tackles Beach Litter, Urging Cooperation From The Public

Walking through one of Sharjah’s beaches on the day following the weekend is a site for sore eyes. The coastlines are littered with plastic cups, broken glass bottles and black charcoal ashes from the remains of barbecues; evidence of a fun family outing!

Bee’ah, the Middle East’s leading and award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company, is raising the alarm for Sharjah residents and encouraging them to correctly dispose of their waste after barbecues and picnics, to ensure that Sharjah’s beaches remain safe, clean and beautiful for the public to enjoy.

Starting today, Bee’ah has launched a one month awareness-raising campaign focusing on beach cleaning, and picnic ethics. The campaign is being launched prior to the occasion of National Day (a time that witnesses the highest footfall of picnickers on beaches in the UAE), and will set up signs along Sharjah’s beaches as well as distribute bags and informative flyers to instruct and educate the public with tips on how to dispose of their picnic waste properly. Moreover, students from schools, universities and colleges, as well as the Sharjah community, will join Bee’ah in a Beach Cleanup event which will take place today at the Mamzar beach in Sharjah.

As part of Bee’ah’s overall integrated waste management solutions, which include recycling, waste minimization and community outreach and awareness, Tandeef – the cleaning and beautification division of Bee’ah – is undertaking the task to restore the beauty and cleanliness of Sharjah’s beaches. The company has provided designated waste bins to collect charcoals, general waste and recyclable plastic and aluminium cans, and has put their beach-cleaning vehicles on intensive schedules to collect waste and recover recyclables for processing at the Bee’ah Waste Management Complex in Al Saj’ah.

“Tandeef believes that residents which live and work in a clean space strive to maintain its cleanliness. Many of these barbecues are left burning, and not only release toxins into the air from burnt plastic and food waste, causing mass littering problems for others, but also cause second-degree burns for people who which to enjoy a nice evening on the beach.” said Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah. “Laws prohibit littering in public areas, but enforcement has to come from the people themselves. By launching this clean-up programme, we hope to help Sharjah take a step forward to leading the way to conserving our environment and keeping our city clean.”

It is estimated that Tandeef collects barbecue and picnic waste from approximately 600 picnic sites across all of Sharjah’s beaches. Much of the waste collected is plastic bottles and bags, aluminium cans, glass and cigarette stubs, but most of it is the black coals and ash left from barbecues, which create a rather unpleasant black-spotted beach destination.
As part of the campaign, residents of Sharjah are advised to bring their own barbecue grills and to dispose them correctly, as much of the leftover barbecue charcoals are left invisible under a thin layer of sand, and pose a harm to beach goers who often tend to step on these still scorching coals, hours or even days after, and burn their feet.

To properly dispose of barbecue coals, barbecue goers should first cool them by immersing them in water or sand. Once they are entirely cool, they should be disposed of in the charcoal bins provided by Tandeef, situated along the Sharjah beaches.

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Bee’ah and Hamriyah Free Zone Authority Sign Three-Year Contract to Expand Environment & Waste Management Services

Bee’ah Awarded For Its Social Resposnibility At The Arabia CSR Awards

Bee’ah – the Middle East’s leading and award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company – won the Arabia Corporate Social Responsibility Award and was shortlisted for another, from a collection of 110 organisations from various business sectors in 10 Arab countries, distinguishing Bee’ah for its educational and community commitment initiatives throughout 2010 and 2011 which empowered the public to practice environmentally sustainable lifestyles within their society.

This award comes as the second major award that Bee’ah receives this year, setting Bee’ah at the forefront of leading environmental change both socially and commercially. Earlier this year, Bee’ah received the Facilities Management 2011 award for Best Waste Management Company of the Year in the Middle East, in recognition for its innovative contributions to waste management within the regional facilities management industry. Coupled with winning the Arabia CSR award in Corporate Social Responsibility, Bee’ah is now acclaimed as the Middle East’s leader of environmental change.

The award ceremony of the fourth annual Arabia CSR Awards took place yesterday at the Grand Hyatt in Dubai, is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman & CEO of Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai Airports, and organised by the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG). The award aims to honour and highlight best practices of organisations across the Arab World that have successfully integrated stakeholder engagement, environmental stewardship, good governance and transparency into their core business strategies.

His Excellency Salim Bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of Bee’ah commented: “Bee’ah was created under the visionary guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Sharjah, with a mandate to adopt international best operational practices in the industry and to educate and engage the public to become more environmentally conscious.” Al Owais added: “Our awards are tribute to all our successes and we hope to continue this journey of progress in the coming years in order to attain our goal of zero-waste by 2015 across all the Emirate of Sharjah.”

Accepting the award, Mr. Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah said: “We are very pleased to have received this award for our commitment towards our environment, our community, and the residents of the UAE. It is a big achievement for us and we remain steadfast in our dedication to deliver on our sustainability promise by focusing our efforts on increasing recycling levels in Sharjah, reducing our energy and water consumption, and most importantly spreading environmental awareness amongst our community”. Al Huraimel added: “The role of each and every individual is critical to the environmental change in the UAE. As Bee’ah we have taken it upon ourselves to go the extra mile in educating the youth, engaging the public, and leading the change towards a more sustainable environment and a greener future.”

On the operational front, Bee’ah has built its sophisticated waste management infrastructure and facilities at Al Saj’ah in 2009, providing systematic segregation, processing and treatment of all types of waste streams in Sharjah. Furthermore, Bee’ah has implemented widespread clean-up operations across Sharjah by establishing its street cleaning and sweeping division, Tandeef.

Bee’ah also installed 3-stream pedestrian recyclers and launched various recycling programmes, such as the latest reverse vending machines (RVM), that aim to encourage Sharjah residents to incorporate the 3Rs (reduce, re-use and recycle) into their lifestyle and provide socially and environmentally responsible companies to utilise these tools as platforms to communicate their CSR messages.

In an effort to educate future generations and demonstrate its commitment to the community, Bee’ah launched the Bee’ah School of Environment, an environmental educational initiative supported by the Sharjah Education Zone and sponsored by various corporate partners, to educate children about being environmentally conscious from a very early age. The initiative had successfully reached over 85,000 students within 102 schools across the Emirate Sharjah after completing its first inaugural year, and aims to reach even more in its second year.

In 2012, Bee’ah aims to further expand its CSR and Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) initiatives with the launch of its all-new environmental community portal, mybeeah.ae, a hub that will bring together environmental advocates and leaders, to interactively engage in shaping a greener future of the region.

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Bee’ah Pioneers New Outdoor Media Utilizing Wasted Light

Bee’ah, the Middle East’s integrated environmental and waste management company, has launched a new outdoor advertising media on pedestrian recyclers pioneering a way to use wasted light.

The new advertising media utilises reflective boards placed on Bee’ah’s pedestrian recyclers situated at prominent locations across Sharjah, to illuminate environmental corporate messages during night and day.

Reflective boards are becoming the essential tool for maximum exposure for businesses helping to reduce the cost of light and valuable energy. The mechanism is most effective in the dark when exposed to headlights from passing traffic and street lights.

Over 1,750 recyclers are installed throughout the emirate of Sharjah, offering brands one of the highest market footfall and interaction figures amongst outdoor and print media.

Najib Faris, the Marketing and Communication Senior Manager at Bee’ah, commented, "Being at the forefront of positive environmental change, it is our commitment to introduce new tools to help preserve the environment of Sharjah. Bee’ah is the first company to introduce the reflective technique in its advertising boards, thus eliminating the use of electricity to power lights on the recycler."

Advertising on recyclers is still a relatively new concept in the UAE, while other street furnishings such as mupis, lamp posts, bus shelters and benches are being employed extensively. Bee’ah wishes to change this perception, "By advertising on our recyclers, brands will be positioned in a better limelight, as choosing to partner with responsible ways of recycling and helping to lower carbon emissions, thus fulfilling their corporate responsibility mandate," explained Najib Faris.

Bee’ah recyclers have been voted as the best media to reach out to individual interactivity and ensure campaigns communicate between the target audience in both Sharjah and Ajman. Street furniture accounts for approximately 40% of the total out-of-home UAE Advertising market, as opposed to the average of 20% worldwide, as quoted by Mediaedge. Multinationals based in the UAE have expressed their interest to advertise on recyclers, as a means to present themselves as environmentally conscious companies.

The Bee’ah recyclers offer advertising messaging space for responsible brand positing. The communication can be placed on either side of the recycler; via reflective board panels or by wrapping advertisements over the entire surface area.

3-stream pedestrian recyclers are an initiative by Bee’ah that aims to encourage recycling amongst the residents of Sharjah and Ajman. The recyclers incorporate state-of-the-art design and manufacturing quality, they are highly functional and user friendly, and are maintained and cleaned daily. The installation of the 3-stream pedestrian recyclers have helped encourage Sharjah residents to incorporate the 3Rs (reduce, re-use and recycle) into their lifestyle, and to successfully utilize them in the correct way.

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Bee’ah Hails Success For Recycling Initiative Launched In Ramadan

MyBee’ah, a community engagement initiative by Bee’ah – the Middle East’s leading and award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company – launched a Ramadan recycling initiative on August 1st, 2011 resulting in improved waste audits.

Results show that waste collection in Ramadan this year increased by 10% compared to the waste audit for Ramadan last year. An average of 8,140 tonnes per week was collected and transported to Bee’ah’s Waste Management Complex at Al Saj’ah for processing into recyclable paper, cardboard, plastics and aluminium while organic waste was sent for composting.

"We are extremely pleased with how the initiative has been received by residents and the results show how popular our campaign was. The new initiative educates residents on the importance of the environmental principle of the three Rs – Reduce, Re-use, Recycle and has helped to considerably reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill," commented Mr. Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah, “which underlines that our residents really are committed to recycling, and we will be working hard to keep providing them with solutions to save their environment."

An increase of 17.41% of household waste is generated during Ramadan of which 24% is made up of plastic bottles and organic waste. Sharjah residents have expressed their need for informative guidelines from Bee’ah on how and where they can take their recyclable waste, as well as other interesting facts and tips on how they can help lead an example as environmental advocates within their community.

Bee’ah launched the awareness-raising campaign at the beginning of Ramadan to educate the public and encourage them to adopt environmentally sustainable lifestyles. The campaign’s purpose was to inform residents to reduce the amount of waste and recycled items which otherwise end up in landfills across the UAE. The project has been launched in 3 of Sharjah’s prominent and highest footfall locations, namely: Al Qasba, Sahara Centre and Mega Mall. Informational kiosks featuring special Ramadan calendars, highlight useful facts and tips on how people can reduce their consumption of food, water and energy, as well as the importance of recycling. The aim is to promote environmental advocacy and urge the public to share this message with their family, friends and neighbours. After all, Ramadan is about caring for others and this is the best time to care for the planet.

The uniquely created Ramadan calendar contains simple guidelines on how individuals can reduce their waste by choosing items with less packaging and turning off the TV when not in use; re-use paper bags or give an item to someone who needs it instead of throwing them away; as well as easy ways to bring in recyclables such as cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and aluminium cans to the Bee’ah Recycling Depot at Al Qasba.

Bee’ah, was recently awarded “Best Waste Management Company of the Year in the Middle East” by the Facilities Management Award for adopting international best practices, with various significant accomplishments to enhance the Emirate’s environment and achievements in added-value commercial ventures, while upholding its commitments to Sharjah’s community.

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Bee’ah Introduces First Public Recycling Center At Al Qasba

Bee’ah, the UAE’s leading integrated environmental and waste management company, launched the first public recycling centre in Sharjah at Al Qasba, coinciding with World Environment Day on Sunday 5th June, 2011.

“At Bee’ah, we always strive to empower the community of Sharjah to be responsible for saving our environment. By taking on an active role in caring for their city, individuals will feel accountable to making a difference and become leading examples within their community, encouraging others to also become avid recyclers.” commented Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer at Bee’ah.

Bee’ah’s Recycling Depot is the latest of many infrastructure tools launched by the company to encourage Sharjah’s residents and facilitate their disposal of recyclables. The Public Recycling Center (Depot) has been designed for mass-recycling and allows for waste to be divided up in three separate container sections (paper; cardboard; plastic and metal cans). The Recycling Depot is permanently positioned at Al Qasba, with more expected in other locations in the future throughout the city of Sharjah; and will serve as yet another recycling touch-point in the city for residents in Sharjah, who adopt recycling as a lifestyle.

Being committed to educating the community about leading an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, Bee’ah conducted several activities, including Eco-Hunting, Drawing for the Environment and Pledging, during World Environment Day at Al Qasba to teach children and their families on the importance and simple methods of recycling. In addition, the public was invited to drop off their recyclable household waste items for Bee’ah to collect and process for re-use in the economy.

Commenting on the event, Dina Al Nakhi, Events Manager, Al Qasba Development Authority, said: "We are very pleased with the great participation that the World Environment Day has witnessed. It is a clear indicator to the environmental awareness in our society and a pleasure of ours to host such an event in collaboration with Bee’ah, through which we both take on our social responsibility to a whole new level."

"We hope that this campaign, alongside other Bee’ah initiatives in the future, will lead to incorporate the efforts of all members of society – whether organizations, individuals or public and private sector representatives – to protect the beautiful environment of the UAE and the entire world. We would like to thank all the participants, who played a vital role in the success of this event." concluded Al Nakhi.

The Public Recycling Center (Depot) at Al Qasba, is a first-of-a-kind venture within the Middle East region, and has been an international recycling practice in many countries across the world for many years. It not only allows for recycling large quantities of recyclable waste by diverting them from the landfill, but is engineered to also eliminate foul odours. Sharjah’s residents are encouraged to take advantage of the Recycling Depot, in addition to the present Pedestrian Recyclers situated across Sharjah, to make their city and the world a cleaner and greener place to live in.

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Bee’ah Welcomes Visit From The Dubai Municipality

Bee’ah – the Middle East’s leading and award-winning integrated environmental and waste management company – welcomed Mr. Naji Al Radi, Head of the Waste Management Department at the Dubai Municipality and the accompanying delegation, at the Bee’ah Waste Management Complex in Al Saj’ah where they met with Mr. Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah, Bee’ah’s senior management team alongside Mr. Marwan Al Husan, Head of Solid Waste Department at the Sharjah Municipality. The delegates were given a presentation of the state-of-the-art technologies adopted by Bee’ah for the first time in the Middle East.

The visit was set to enhance the cooperation between Bee’ah and the Dubai Municipality, strengthen their collaborative efforts to improve the environment of the U.A.E., and exchange knowledge and experience around potential areas of legislation, regulations, joint efforts and development of environmental awareness programmes.

“We are very proud to show representatives from our neighbouring Emirate the substantial progress that we, at Bee’ah, have achieved in the last four years to become a leading example of environmental change.” said Al Huraimel. “We are very keen to work together with the Dubai Municipality and explore ways to benefit the entire U.A.E., by strengthening our spirit of cooperation and becoming the partner of choice towards a greener future.”

Bee’ah was awarded the prestigious Facilities Management Award for ‘Best Waste Management Company of the Year’ in the Middle East; for its achievements in environmental protection and advanced waste management infrastructure put into place since 2007. Bee’ah and the Sharjah City Municipality, as a strategic partner, have successfully transformed the landfill at the Waste Management Complex (WMC) in Al Saj’ah into a safe disposal site that was re-engineered using state-of-the-art technology, best practices and processes to ensure the highest available standards of safety and efficiency.

Bee’ah’s WMC represents an entirely new approach, in the region, to managing waste and includes a number of industrial, commercial and residential waste diversion operations and facilities. The WMC houses the Material Recovery Facility, the Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Facility, the Tyre Recycling Facility, the compost plant, and other recycling facilities.

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Reports A 4-Fold Surge In Recycling Levels In Sharjah

Bee’ah, the UAE’s leading integrated environmental and waste management company, today announced a sharp rise in recycling levels in Sharjah for the first quarter of 2011.
Recent audits conducted at Bee’ah’s Waste Management Complex (WMC) in Al Saj’ah have revealed a 34% drop in waste delivered to the landfill in Q1 of 2011, as compared to the same period last year; a result of the combined efforts of each division and the successful implementation of various community awareness programmes across the emirate.
These include the sophisticated infrastructure and facilities at Al Saj’ah for systematic segregation and waste processing, implementation of widespread clean-up operations across Sharjah by Tandeef, installation of additional 3-stream pedestrian recyclers and the launch of the residential recycling programme to encourage Sharjah residents to incorporate the 3Rs (reduce, re-use and recycle) into their lifestyle. Additionally, the Bee’ah School of Environment, an initiative supported by the Sharjah Education Zone, has been an astounding success and aims to educate children about being environmentally conscious from a very early age.
“Taking into consideration that recycling is still new to the region, the figures are a testament to the fact that Bee’ah’s investment in expanding operations and improving systems is paying off,” said Khaled Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah.
“I would also like to thank our partners in this success - the residents, local authorities and businesses across Sharjah, who have contributed significantly in increasing recycling across the emirate to create a cleaner environment.”
One of the highest contributors in increasing recycling levels has been plastic - including PET and mixed plastic, with a 700% increase from March 2010 to 2011, paper and cardboard second at 366%, followed by a 135% increase in aluminium recycling for the same period.
Directing attention to the achievements of each facility, Municipal Solid Waste diversion rates from the Al Saj’ah landfill increased from 14% in 2010 to 33.7% in 2011 - over 100 million kilograms of organic waste recycled at the Al Saj’ah Compost plant, 90% of construction and demolition waste recovered, and over 286,000 tyres recycled every month at the Tyre Recycling Facility. Moving forward, Bee’ah aims to increase the diversion rate from 33.7% to 40% by the end of 2012.
Bee’ah and the Sharjah Municipality - strategic partners since 2009, have successfully transformed the Al Saj’ah landfill at Bee’ah’s WMC into a safe disposal site that represents an entirely new approach to waste management in the region.
Al Huraimel concludes, “Bee’ah’s long-term strategy for growth is to position the company as a leader of environmental change not only in Sharjah, but beyond borders, as we make plans to expand into other emirates as well.”

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Bee’ah And Expo Centre Sharjah To Host Green Middle East 2011

Bee’ah, one of the region’s leading integrated environmental and waste management organisations, along with Expo Centre Sharjah will host Green Middle East 2011. The event aims to address waste, pollution, recycling and alternative energy issues by featuring the latest in environmental management systems and sustainable technology.

“The best countries in the world are the ones already implementing effective environmental solutions and being at the forefront of positive environmental change, it is Bee’ah’s ultimate vision to position the UAE as a model for an environmentally sustainable future,” said H.E Saalim Bin Mohammed Al Owais, Chairman of Bee’ah.

Dealing with solid waste is a particularly acute issue. The UAE has the dubious distinction of being the world’s largest per capita producer of waste. Sharjah itself generates 2,200 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily. About 2.2 kg of waste is produced per person per day (803.5 kg per person per year) in Sharjah. About 2,500 to 3,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste is received at its landfill daily, which amounts to approximately 1,095,000 tonnes a year.

In comparison, Dubai generates more that 10,000 tonnes of general waste per day and Abu Dhabi generates about 4.2 kg of garbage per person per day. This is much higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries’ average of 1.54 kg per inhabitant per day. Every single day, about 1,500 tonnes of municipal waste and about 12,000 to 15,000 tonnes of construction waste ends up in Abu Dhabi landfills.

In 2010 Sharjah produced 48% of the UAE’s non-oil industrial output, up 2% since 2006 and by simply generating more power, the Sharjah government is well aware that long term, that is not the solution. Employing more efficient processes will have to play a major role to maintain sustainable future economic policy.

“If Gulf countries, reliant on revenues from oil and gas, want to diversify and grow their economies, it is essential they find ways to manage waste and use energy more efficiently. Sustainability is one of the fastest growing industries in the region, billions of dollars has and will continue to be allocated from government budgets, providing a myriad of business opportunities,” Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, Director-General of Expo Centre Sharjah.

Indeed Sharjah Municipality is, in some areas, setting the pace, embracing private investment with Public Private Partnerships (PPP) such as the recently signed a twenty-year agreement with Bee’ah to manage landfill site operations across Sharjah. Alongside the same agreement, Tandeef, the street cleaning and city beautification arm of Bee’ah, was commissioned to provide services to ensure a cost-effective and environmentally sound solid waste collection and is also required to introduce further recycling initiatives while encouraging international standards of waste source separation and recycling practices.

The three-day event which takes place on 17-19 October 2011 will take a holistic approach of the environmental issues, affecting Sharjah, the UAE and the wider Middle East. It will feature five highly focused areas of sustainability namely, solid waste, waste water, air pollution, scrap metal, alternative energy and green buildings. Comprising an exhibition, conference, seminars and workshops, the sustainable showcase will feature the technology equipment and products that go into environment conservation and protection, offering participants a platform to access the region’s multi-million dollar spending in environmental protection.

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