French firm to operate industrial waste landfill in North Al Batinah

KEY INFRASTRUCTURE: Contract represents initial stages of an ambitious plan for the development of a National Integrated Waste Treatment Scheme in the Sultanate

Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (be’ah) — the Sultanate’s solid waste management flagship — has awarded the multinational corporation SUEZ a contract for the operation and maintenance of an Industrial Waste Landfill at North Al Batinah Governorate. As part of its contract, French-based SUEZ will oversee the reception, storage and landfilling of an estimated 42,000 tonnes of industrial hazardous waste annually.

This contract represents the initial stages of an ambitious plan for the development of a National Integrated Waste Treatment Scheme in the Sultanate.

North Al Batinah, which is home to Sohar Port and Freezone as well as the Sohar Industrial Estate, generates around 90 per cent of the Sultanate’s total industrial hazardous waste. This facility will present a safe solution for the handling industrial hazardous waste. Tackling this waste is a key priority for be’ah in line with its broader vision to support the safe, efficient and sustainable handling and disposal of all kinds of waste streams generated around the Sultanate.

A tender for the construction and operation of the full-fledged facility will be floated in the near future. A number of international firms and their joint venture Omani partners are already looking to prequalify to participate in the competitive bidding process for the following phases of the national hazardous waste treatment facility. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) floated by be’ah in this regard is open until late October.

The National Integrated Waste Treatment complex will include pretreatment units, a dedicated waste solidification facility, as well as a physical/chemical treatment plant designed to process liquid inorganic hazardous waste.

A thermal treatment plant (incinerator) for destruction of hazardous waste is envisioned as part of the project as well.

SUEZ has a significant presence in Oman’s solid waste sector. Over the past eight years, the company has been managing a string of municipal landfills around the Sultanate. Notable are Al Amerat and Barka engineered landfills, which rank among the largest in the country.

SUEZ is also a major player in the Sultanate’s water desalination industry with a portfolio of investments that include the Barka II desalination plant (120,000 m3/day capacity) and more recently the Barka 4 Independent Water Project (281,000 m3/day). The latter is Oman’s biggest desalination plant, which came into operation last June.