Public voting - Company Overview

Balexco went through a formal tender process Solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) project in 2022. Based on a detailed evaluation, Clean Max & Kanoo JV has been selected for the 2.4MW project. The signing of the Letter of Intent is on 10th November 2022, in the presence of Ministry’s Renewable Energy team. The project would be immediately started with structural analysis and design.

The project includes, conducting a detailed Energy Audit parallel to the design approval and procurement stage. The Energy audit study will detail the current energy consumption, highlight areas of wastage and recommend a plan of action.

Tanmiah Food Company's project is the gasification of poultry manure to create biochar. The process will create syngas which will be used to create steam which will then power a turbine to generate clean energy. The project targets our sustainability initiatives of reducing waste sent to landfill, reducing waste sent to landfill and reducing our carbon footprint. This project is primarily being led by the sustainability team with technical support from PMO (Project Management Office) and PED (Project Engineering and Design). We expect annual carbon emissions savings of 76807 tCO2e through this project.

Our target is to be a net zero power-consuming entity by 2025. We have implemented solar power projects which cover 20% of our power requirements to date. This was achieved in September 2022. We have complemented this initiative by installing LED lights and replacing older AC units with more energy-efficient units to control our power consumption and eventually achieve our target of 100% of the power consumed through renewable sources sooner. 

- Total Solar Power Generating Capacity Installed: 1.14 MW
- Total Solar Power Units Generated per Year: 1.74 Million kWh
- Total Carbon dioxide Reduction: 1,045 Tons per Year
- Total Amount of Coal Burning Avoided: 619 Tons
- Total No. of Oil Barrel Consumption Avoided: 3,488 Barrels
- Total No. of Equivalent Tree Seedlings Grown over 10 Years: 20,928 seedlings"

We have decided to enter into a 20-year solar power purchase agreement to cover our electricity consumption in our operations of our 2 cement mills, bag packing and bulk loading units. We have also installed wind turbines on a trial basis. This power purchase agreement is estimated to generate 3GWh of clean energy in 1 year and to reduce 40,658 Metric Tonnes of CO2 equivalent which is equivalent to 8,760 cars taken off the road or 672,280 trees saved. With a 1760 KWp estimated system capacity, we are saving 38% of costs compared to EWA Tariff.

Emirates Glass LLC and LumiGlass Industries installed photovoltaic (PV) rooftop systems on its facilities in the UAE, promoting the use of solar energy. The implementation of solar panels on the two glass manufacturing facilities will reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 1,200 tonnes annually, equivalent to planting approximately 30,000 trees.

These solar panels are expected to generate around 2,800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green energy per year from these two locations.

Yes, Our glass processing factory is fossil fuel free but still an energy intensive industry with major Scope 2 GHG Emissions. Our energy management/efficiency projects include the below:

1. Cooling/Refrigeration System
a. Energy Efficient Utility AC Upgradation of 36 units which has capacity of 105 Ton / 1,260,000 BTU
b. Optimization of factory and office working hours reduced the utility bill by 15% and enhanced the life span of the equipment involved
2. Tempering Furnace - Heating Power Optimization
a. TBM of 20 resistive Heaters with total capacity of 188 Kw
b. 11 % of saving in process , Bed & Load Optimization.

BAC is committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050. As one of our key priorities is to reduce the impact of our operations on climate change and transition towards Net Zero Carbon. BAC has established a framework of carbon management that addresses emissions and engages stakeholders throughout the decarbonization journey. BAC has managed to reduce it’s carbon footprint greatly with the development of the LEED Gold certified new terminal and continues to reduce via adopting retrofit projects for existing facilities and integration of renewable energy planned for the upcoming years, with an expected annual energy saving of 37%.

Energy Management strategies were laid out as soon as construction was complete, covering all aspects of data collection, analysis & energy consumption control. The lack in existing automation was identified & hence, an automation project was put forward to achieve 20% savings compared to the previous year, estimating a 1 year ROI. The yield started recording from 2022 and the retrofit project is expected to complete during Q1 of 2023.

Our project includes the reduction of the SEWA consumption in the factory by making adjustments to the electric and water consuming devices. Moreover, making slight changes in the business model in order to make high energy consuming machinery redundant and outsourcing tasks which were not regular. This involved strategizing with the Business Development Manager, Operations manager and the Production supervisor. This new strategy has led to a net 25% reductions in monthly electricity bills over a period of 48 months leading to Annual Savings of approx AED 36,000.

"Aamal has been able to boost its waste recycling by reusing wastewater and material. The Company installed recycling and waste segregation facilities across several locations in Qatar to handle and process the waste generated by our subsidiaries’ operations and activities.

Aamal ReadyMix recycles wastewater and reuses it for washing mixer vehicles aiming to minimize wastage. Solid concrete waste is segregated into ingredients and reused. Moreover, used oil and filters are sent to recycling factories instead of dumping."

"RedSea’s multi-technology 10,000m2 demonstration greenhouse in Al Ain will be used to showcase and develop cutting edge sustainable agriculture technologies in Abu Dhabi to drive adoption in the UAE. The facility is designed to mimic the most common greenhouse style in the GCC but is set up to demonstrate (A) RedSea Technology on one side and (B) existing growing methods on the other side. This project is significant for RedSea as it is our first in the UAE and allows for scaling our technology for 1000 local farmers as well as globally for application in other regions with hot climates. Our baseline 5-year project plan includes these targets:

- 200,000m3 freshwater saved
- 1000 tonnes sustainable fresh produce sold to local market
- $2 million of import substitution
- 15 local jobs created (4 high skilled)
- ~$50 million sales from technology showcased on site by 2026"

Metito applied a new approach in UAE, at one of the major district cooling (DC) companies, aimed at reducing pressure on freshwater demand to feed district cooling requirements. The new approach integrated innovative methods to water treatment and online monitoring. The technology applied reduces freshwater demand, firstly by optimizing the cooling system operation, and secondly by using recycled treated wastewater partially or fully.

To ensure optimized operations, without any disruptions, Metito used reliable online monitoring backed by software modelling to simulate new water conditions and designed the program to assure reliable operations of the district cooling plant, under different scenarios.

Key impact and sustainable benefits included:
1) 50,000 m3 savings of fresh water from Jan.-Aug. 2022, based on an average of 1-million-ton refrigeration (TR).
2) Reduction of the plant carbon footprint by more than 4.0 tons of CO2/day (based on 2.5 Kg CO2 per m3 of Desalinated water (treated seawater).
3) Reduction in land footprint by saving the land needed for building a standalone desalination plant to supply feedwater.
4) Reduction in overall operations cost related to water and chemical programs, by approximately 25%, by securing alternative makeup water to feed the cooling towers, compared to desalinating fresh seawater.

Turning waste to wealth by recycling wastewater and reusing it efficiently as a readily available water resource rather than disposing of it and desalinating, precious and costly, fresh water is a significant and sustainable benefit.

Metito’s approach, if applied to the DC industry in GCC, forecasted to reach 30 million TR, can achieve 30 million m3/year water saving and can reduce CO2 by more than 100,000 MT of CO2 emission.

"Our vision aims to display and preserve the various types of palms found in the local international environments. The Garden is the first of its kind in the sultanate, which provides home to the types of palms found in the world. It aims to enhance and disseminate knowledge about palm trees associated terminology, and the methods of conserving and conserving them.

The company also focuses and supports projects that urges sustainability and provide better solutions that can save the environment. One of these projects is Astrolabe On-Site Wastewater Treatment System. Astrolabe on-site wastewater treatment system is an Omani brand that established in 2014. The System is compact and integrated, designed and manufactured in order to achieve the highest standards of quality, sustainability and reliability of water. We expect to save 250 gallons of water annually through the application of this system."

"Our objective this year was to eliminate single use plastic bottles across our entire organisation. From management to site staff, every single employee has given up using disposable plastics during office hours. Plastic bottles, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, plastic tools, plastic lunch boxes, and plastic cups have been eliminated from our offices and projects. 884 kilograms of plastic were saved through this project which equates to 160,000 litres of water saved per annum.

The team now uses reusable materials for all their daily requirements. This allows us to maintain the highest standards of hygiene across the company."

"The Living Business programme provided the additional catalyst to form a specific project team (beyond our project site team) to focus solely on project waste management. We already had an annual waste target (reported in our annual sustainability report), but we needed external resources to help us find waste management partners. Following the introductions and meetings we quickly established which companies could take our specific building waste, the financial impact, and then established a new process.

Results:
- End of financial year 31st March 2022, 9% project waste diverted from landfill (target 20%)
- 28% project waste (end September 2022) has already been diverted from landfill (target 30%) using two new partners.
- Contracts with partners due to be signed in the coming months
- New waste process developed will be embedded into our ISO quality management system and rolled out"""

This was an internal improvement process inculcated after "Living Business's Beyond Rubbish: Waste Management Webinar" to reduce, reuse and ultimately recycle our existing production offshoots and plastic nanoparticles. We are looking to improve our internal waste recover by over 50% measured in terms of material recovered/production offshoots. Additionally, we started to research the feasibility of introducing a buy-back scheme for existing customers.

"We prepared an intensive waste management plan. Executed Plan of action and monitored it in regular interval in order to achieve the coveted target to reduce and to recycle our max wastes.

We emphasized to identify our waste at the 'waste generation point' instead of 'at disposal area'. We analyzed the type of waste to categorize them properly and worked with a motto for optimum reduction of waste, proper disposal and for maximum recycling. 

Objectives: 
1. To have hazard free workplace with zero spillage, optimum recycling, proper disposal of waste
2. Collection of 100% used oil from all projects and recycling.
3. Recycling of all used (100%) filters, all (100%) hydraulic hoses, all batteries (100%),
4. Recycling of 15% of total used tyre. Rest to be disposed at MOE designated area.
5. Recycling of 50% used oil drums, 40% scrap steel for in-house use
6. 5% reduction in yearly total fuel consumption to reduce the emission of GHG
7. 10% reduction in yearly food waste in labour camp
8. Re-use of 25% treated waste water"

"We provide healthy meals in subscription packages (weekly & monthly) with each meal we provide plastic cutlery tools.

We started to offer an opt-out option in our checkout process to help to reduce the amount of plastic waste we consume and encourage our customers to use more sustainable options and reduce plastic waste"

ABA Beverages, along with Pepsi Co and Al Mannai Plastics, Kuwait, initiated the trials with r Pet preforms in June. The raw material, the Resin, was from a FDA approved Vendor, Bariq, in Egypt. The preforms were manufactured, using these resins, by Al Mannai Plastics. Both the resin as well as the preforms are approved by Pepsi Co, after they pass the mandatory tests like Migration Test, Chemical Tests and Mechanical strength. The resin used for r Pet Preform is FDA approved. The moves aligns with PepsiCo’s international standards and Sustainability Plans, the PEP + Global Initiative. 

As a part of Sustainability Plans, ABAB and Pepsi Co has targeted few projects - reduce the Consumption of Virgin PET, introduction of r PET in preforms, reduction in consumption of fresh water and electricity. ABAB conducted its first trial, of Aquafina in 330ml format, on 6th June, 2022. The samples were then sent to a Qatar based Laboratory, for testing the physio chemical parameters of the Bottled Drinking Water. Upon approval, ABAB launched 330ml Aquafina Bottled Drinking Water, in r Pet, on 27th October, 2022, thereby becoming the first Pepsi Bottler to commercially launch this product, in the Middle East. The celebratory launch was under the patronage of the Qatar Ministry of Environment and Climate Change as well as the Qatar Ministry of Commerce and Trade, gathered Executives from PepsiCo and Ali Bin Ali Holdings. Local and regional media were also invited to cover the event.

"Drop it Campaign: Drop the habit of using plastic across all AWR premises. A campaign was launched in June to eliminate the use of plastic across all AWR offices, and replace them with usable bottles while installing water filtration dispensers. The project has helped us so far using minimal amount of plastic until we aim to fully stop by end of the year, and cut the cost of ordering plastic bottled water. The objective is to achieve zero usage of plastic across all AWR premises by end of H1 2023 and reduce the cost of using plastic by 90% by end of 2023."

We have recently commissioned a waste master capable of repurposing up to 450 kg of food waste in a day, with 20% of the waste coming out as soil conditioner. Our aim is to divert up to 164,250 kgs of food waste in a year and ultimately 821,250 kgs in 5 years. We are reducing our carbon footprint and ultimately reversing the adverse effects of climate change. We are achieving a circular economy and closing the loop by sending our soil conditioner to Bio farms across the Emirates. This will generate 164,700 kgs of soil conditioner in 5 years.

"As a response to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12, the British School of Bahrain (BSB) aimed to contribute towards ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns through a variety of activities under the BSB Green Project. This project involved several activities such as reducing and repurposing food waste, recycling plastic and reusing and recycling old apparel. These activities not only helped the school reduce waste but also created the spirit of camaraderie between parents, staff, students and external partners as they work together towards achieving a common goal. 

The BSB Green Project aims to:
1. To reduce food waste through the ""My Clean Plate"" programme through educating and challenging students about taking only enough food.
2. To repurpose food waste from the canteen by using a composter and using the compost for our eco garden.
3. To reuse old uniforms by reselling it and to sell old unusable and unwanted clothes to gain funds for use towards meaningful school projects.
4. To recycle plastic bottles by giving them to Simply Bottles for it to be converted to recycled textile."

The project aims to recycle used cooking oil. We partnered with "Tagadod" who collect the cooking oil from our stores and reuse it manufacturing biofuel and renewable fuel as alternative to disposing it in our sewage system. 8.5 pounds of collected used oil can equate to one gallon of renewable energy. Our main objective is to dispose of around 500-600 liters of used cooking oil per month. An additional objective is to inspire other grocery retailers in our tight network of modern retailers to follow suit and consequently contribute to the growth of Tagddod whose goals expand beyond reusing cooking oil only but broad food waste management.

"Our project is to implement the Winnow Vision technology - The World’s First Automated Food Waste Tracking Using Artificial Intelligence

Food waste costs the hospitality industry over 100bn annually. Kitchens can waste up to 20% of food purchased, which can affect the overall food cost. Looking forward with a goal to control the food wastage while equipping the chefs with modern AI technology tool, we planned to introduce WINNOW.
With the help of winnow, our chefs can easily track what & how much food is going into the bin and can conduct a root cause analysis to control the wastage using their innovative ideas. 

Our targets are:
1. To save at least 520,999 meals by plate
2. Reduce their food waste by >55% over a period of 12 month and achieve an ROI after 3-8 month using the system
3. To reduce at-least 86 Tons an CO2 emission"

"Rahmania Mall has a concrete waste management policy implemented to meet our sustainability goals.

346.7 Tonnes of generated waste was collected, 164 Tonnes of corrugated cardboard was recycled, 9 Tonnes of plastic was recycled and 14 Tonnes of food was diverted from landfill using a biodigester, saving 63.57 Tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere."

Through this partnership and many other similar projects that the team has been involved in, we hope to raise better awareness on how local businesses can contribute to the community that they are operating in. Five-star hotels produce large quantities of food, especially with a property of our size and the number of outlets, there is much to be donated to people who are in need in different parts of the country. We are partnering with Oman Food Bank , BE Health , Oman charity for social development and expect to divert 80 KG of waste per annum away from landfill (that is 25% of our total waste).