Reimagining Waste

First featured in the February edition of Middle East Consultant magazine - Angitha Pradeep speaks to Ruchin Garg, Regional Manager - Middle East & Africa at CDE, about the company’s quarter-century journey, our commitment to sustainability, and a circular economy, and our projects in the Middle East.

Established in 1992, CDE is a Northern Ireland headquartered organisation with landmark projects such as the world’s largest sand washing plant and the world’s most extensive construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling plant under its belt.

With operations spread across eight regions from Northern and Latin America to Australasia, CDE’s HQ in Cookstown, Northern Ireland is also the world’s largest campus dedicated to the wet processing of materials in sand and aggregates, mining, C&D waste recycling, industrial sands, and environmental sectors.

Over the last 25 years, the company has delivered over 2,000 projects across 100 countries, while simultaneously working to reduce water shortage and create sustainability in the sector, as part of its brand ethos.

Ruchin Garg, Regional Manager - Middle East & Africa at CDE tells Middle East Consultant, the company installed its first project in the region in 2008. Since then, CDE has installed over 100 projects in the region with different applications, he says. CDE’s first regional plant in Qatar can process 1,200 tonnes of dune sand per hour. It is the largest sand washing plant in the world and can recycle over 90% of the water used.

Garg continues, “CDE spearheaded the region with its sand and aggregates washing solutions for the construction sector – with plants in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, South Africa, and Tanzania. The range of CDE solutions has revolutionised the sand and aggregate washing industry in terms of efficiency, allowing customers to wash even the dirtiest of sands and aggregates thanks to its pinpoint accuracy in silt and clay cut points.”

He adds, “Looking to the future, the region is bustling with expected infrastructure growth and greater adoption of the circular economy – and we are excited to play our role in the region’s progression.” Discussing the pandemic, Garg notes that though the MEA region experienced slower growth in comparison to other markets, CDE reported a year-on-year revenue increase.

“In 2020, the team navigated novel challenges brought by the pandemic and successfully installed many projects. In addition, my mandate since 2020 has been to bring CDE’s advanced processing methods of recycling C&D waste to the region.”

He elaborates, “The major market trend we have observed is the push towards a circular economy. Soaring urbanisation presents a mounting challenge to meet the demands of the construction industry, and recycled materials are an effective solution when supported by the most appropriate technologies and practices.”

“For 2021 and beyond, we foresee the region adopting wet processing technologies for higher-end product specifications and waste diversion. Our clients are a testament to our commitment to R&D, process design, manufacturing quality and after-sales services.

We have a dedicated approach to each client with a focus on economic and environmental sustainability for the people and the planet.”

Unlocking Value

CDE notes that when supported with the appropriate processing practices and technology, sand and stone resources recovered from C&D activities can be utilised for high-value construction and infrastructure projects. CDE has helped customers realise the potential in recycled aggregates. Here, Garg mentions a project in the UK with The Sheehan Group. “CDE’s washing plant processes all the C&D waste that contracting company The Sheehan Group handles, and has diverted over 750,000 tonnes of inert waste from landfill over the past seven years. It creates 20,000 building blocks a day from 100% recycled aggregates which follow a CE-certified process.” 

He also mentions a project in France, which was commissioned for Pélichet Albert SA, a public works contractor, and aggregates producer that operates a circular economy business model with operations in demolition, groundworks, landfill, and C&D waste recycling.

Explaining CDE’s wet processing technology, which was used for the plant, Garg says, “Pélichet is diverting an estimated 200,000 tonnes of C&D waste from landfill per year. The engineered-to-order plant is supporting the contractor to produce high-quality competitive and sustainable sand and aggregates. This is used in concrete mix and drainage systems, ensuring valuable resources are returned to the construction industry.”

Shifting focus to CDE’s projects in the Middle East, he states that notable projects include manufactured sand (M-Sand) from crusher waste project and a silica resource project in Tunisia.