Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (be’ah), the state-owned entity tasked with overseeing the management of the solid waste sector in the Sultanate of Oman, has credited novel waste reduction practices, among other factors, for a 3 per cent decline in municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in the country in 2021.
The dip, while relatively modest, bodes well for the Omani government’s long-term goal to slash the amount of municipal waste ending up in landfills through the adoption of a comprehensive circular economy strategy.
“In 2021, there was a reduction of 3 per cent in the waste produced throughout the Sultanate of Oman, which may be the result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and people creating less waste as they adjusted to new ways of life,” said be’ah in its latest Sustainability Report 2022.
“Nevertheless, 2.52 million tonnes of waste were collected, as a daily average of 6,904 tonnes. To ensure service continuity, 177,323 bins and 1,157 collection trucks were deployed, supported by a service provider manpower of 3,086. To ensure the correct processing of this waste, 16 transfer stations and 10 landfills were working at full capacity,” it added.
Operating under the auspices of Oman Investment Authority (OIA), be’ah is responsible for managing municipal, industrial and healthcare waste in the country, providing waste management services from collection to disposal to both private and public sectors.
Eng Ahmed bin Hamed al Subhi, Chairman of the Board of Directors at be’ah, also highlighted an array of “significant steps” that the company had taken in 2021 towards the modernisation of the country’s waste management infrastructure.
“Some major achievements include the commencement of Construction & Demolition (C&D) and shredder operations in Mirbat and Barka respectively, the deployment of reverse vending machines in Muscat, and a 2-bin system deployment and operation. We signed nine agreements for the handling of lead acid batteries from major generators and facilitated the preparation for setting up animal feed, compost facilities and green waste diversion with Nakheel Oman Development Company. We also partnered with PDO to commence clearance work on the PDO dumpsite,” Al Subhi said.
“Additionally, we signed major industrial waste treatment contracts with international companies, which bolstered revenue generation. Another value creation initiative is recovering the lost value from waste through various projects and laying the foundations of a circular economy in Oman,” stated the Chairman.
be’ah’s value recovery strategy, he stressed, seeks to boost Oman’s economy by exploring new resources and providing the private sector with investment opportunities in transporting, collecting, processing, and recycling waste.
Healthcare waste (HCW), on the other hand, jumped 13.6 per cent to 4,887 tonnes in 2021, up from 4,300 tonnes in 2019 – boosted in part by Covid19-related hazardous waste.
According to Eng Tariq bin Ali al Amri, CEO, an effective HCW Contingency Plan rolled out by be’ah during the pandemic helped ensure the sustainability of healthcare waste management throughout 2021.
“We worked with various municipalities to ensure that commercial areas are sanitised and decontaminated in response to the pandemic, and to meet the stringent requirements as the workforce started to return to work in some sectors. Additionally, be’ah created and issued a new set of permits that enabled MSW operation teams to move safely between governorates,” he said.
