Bee’ah, the UAE-based sustainability and environmental services giant, announced its appointment late-January as the waste management partner for Egypt’s new Administrative Capital, which is being developed by the Administrative Capital for Urban Development and is one of the largest urban development projects in the world.

The company, a six-time winner of the Waste Management Company of the Year in the Middle East, is the latest in a long line of UAE success stories to expand internationally and take its advanced practices beyond borders. With a vision of pioneering a sustainable quality of life in the MENA region, Bee’ah says its impressive win can be directly attributed to its proven track record of diverse achievements and innovations in the UAE.

After an impressive submission in a hotly contested bid by all major players in the waste management industry, Bee’ah will now provide its innovative solutions to the 71,400-hectare new capital – around the size of Singapore – that will house an anticipated population of 6.5 million and 21 residential areas. To achieve an 80 percent waste diversion rate in the city they devised an integrated approach to environmental management for the new capital by bringing the best of sustainable practices in waste management and technologies to enable a circular economy for Egypt and reduce dependency on landfills, the company reveals.

As a natural extension of Cairo, located forty-five kilometres east of the capital, the new city will house government departments, ministries and foreign embassies, and is expected to strengthen and diversify the country’s economic potential. On the accomplishment, HE Salim bin Mohamed Al Owais, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Bee’ah, said, “This significant achievement for Bee’ah is a testament of its rapid evolution in the past 12 years and a forwardthinking innovative spirit that drives Bee’ah towards excellence.

We are delighted to be awarded the largest waste management contract in the Middle East and are keen to take our ambitions global. As sustainability imperatives become top on the agenda for governments, businesses and communities, Bee’ah will continue to drive our vision to be a pioneer of sustainable quality of life in the Middle East and beyond.”

Driving the UAE’s green agenda, Bee’ah says it has achieved a 76 percent waste diversion rate for the Emirate of Sharjah – the highest in the Middle East – and this is projected to reach 100 percent in 2021 upon completion of the Middle East’s first waste-to-energy plant in Sharjah. The company’s Waste Management division caters to millions of residents through municipal services, and multiple commercial establishments which include the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, Dubai World Trade Centre. Bee’ah will also commence operations soon at the world’s busiest airport, Dubai International Airport.

Through leveraging global best practices and disruptive innovations, the sustainability forerunner utilises an eco-friendly fleet of vehicles for city cleaning and waste collection. Building an infrastructure for a circular economy and sound environmental practices, Bee’ah’s state-of-theart Waste Management Complex processes three million tonnes of waste annually, by recycling, recovering and regenerating materials for reuse.

The Waste Management Complex houses the Material Recovery Facility, which has an annual capacity over 500,000 tonnes and is one of the top producers of recycled materials from solid waste in the Middle East; the Industrial Waste Water Treatment Plant which can treat 300m³ of contaminated water daily; a cryogenic Tyre Recycling Facility that recycles old tyres into useful rubber products; the Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Facility with a recovery rate of 95 percent; and the Car and Metal Shredding and Recycling Facility, which has the world’s most powerful shredding machines capable of processing a vehicle in 60 seconds, according to Bee’ah.

On the company’s rapid ascent towards becoming the Middle East’s leading environmental services provider, HE Khalid Al Huraimel, Group CEO of Bee’ah, said, “Bee’ah aims to make sustainable quality of life a reality in the Middle East and beyond, through a twin-pillared strategy of digitalisation and sustainability across our operations. We have proven ourselves in the UAE, achieving milestones such as building the country’s first waste-to-energy plant, exploring new ventures that champion sustainable mobility solutions and digital transformation to positively impact the lives of millions.”

On winning the contract for Egypt’s new capital, HE Al Huraimel said, “We are delighted to be working on such an ambitious and forward-thinking project. This new project marks the next phase of Bee’ah’s expansion as a global player across the field, from waste management and renewable energy to sustainable transportation and green buildings. Together with the Administrative Capital for Urban Development, we are certain that we will help make the new capital a smart and green city of the future.”

The development of Egypt’s new Administrative Capital is part of a broader objective to double the country’s urban space from 7 to 14 percent, through road projects and 14 new cities by 2052. The move comes as forecasts show that the population could grow from the current 100 million to 160 million by 2050, thus the need for new urban centres.

As part of the waste management strategy for the new city, Bee’ah developed a Green City objective to be met via the company’s integrated waste management solutions. They will also encourage community participation in residential recycling through awareness programmes. Under the Smart City objectives, the company will launch a mobile application for residents to access information and avail wasterelated services.

To meet the Administrative Capital’s Happy City objectives, Bee’ah says they will strive for customer satisfaction by continuously improving services, providing 24/7 customer service support and launch behavioural reward programmes that encourage recycling. To boost efficiencies, the company has developed the region’s first fully-integrated, digital waste management solution, WastePro+, which will be used for this project to monitor waste from collection right through to recycling and treatment facilities.

Beyond environmental management, Bee’ah’s vision is captured in its new Headquarters, set to be a benchmark for the smartest and greenest building of the future. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for LEED Platinum certification and as net zero energy building, the Headquarters’ will be the region’s first artificial intelligence-integrated smart office technology incorporated by Johnson Controls and Microsoft.

To share best practices through consultancy, Bee’ah’s expertise is leveraged by its Consultancy, Research and Innovation division, which offers advisory and research services to help clients make informed decisions regarding environmental and ecological impact. To drive lasting and generational change, the company seeks to educate youth on the importance of protecting our planet through the Bee’ah School of Environment, which has a trove of useful online resources for teachers and students alike and hosts national recycling competitions that encourage community participation.

The company has set its ambitions high by launching joint ventures that meet both the region’s demand for sustainable solutions and digitalisation. Together with Crescent Enterprises, Bee’ah launched ION, the region’s first sustainable transportation company in 2018, to offer zeroemissions mobility solutions like electric vehicle ride-hailing offerings and autonomous shuttles for cities, business districts and municipalities, among others. Meanwhile, the company’s digital arm, EVOTEQ, is currently managing one of the largest municipality digital transformation projects.

Founded in 2007 as a publicprivate partnership company, and with ventures in industries ranging from waste management to environmental consulting, renewable energy, technology, sustainable transportation, and training & development, “Bee’ah is striving to create a better quality of life for all cities and communities in the region,” added HE Al Huraimel. The company has executed a comprehensive strategy focused on sustainability and digitalisation, which has reaped rich benefits in the form of the region’s highest waste diversion rates, and the GCC’s first waste-to-energy plant.