Welcome to the city of cranes. In Dubai, construction is happening everywhere
all the time: new roads, industrial zones, office
buildings, apartment skyscrapers and luxury
villas, as well as mega hotels and resorts. And
there seems to be the iron will in every case to
create something more impressive than what
went before. The famous 170-storey Burj Khal-
ifa Hotel – at 830 metres the tallest man-made
structure in the world – had not even been offi-
cially opened before its initiator, entrepreneur
Mohammed Alabbar, had started brooding
on his next multi-billion dollar project to
further his masterplan for the emirate.
Dubai aims constantly and ambitiously to sur-
pass itself. And money hardly seems to be an
obstacle: US$ 7 billion has been spent on
expanding Dubai International Airport, today
the world’s busiest in terms of international
passenger traffic. And the development of a
second airport is on the way, with roughly
US$ 17 billion to be invested; when completed,
Dubai World Central-Al Maktoum Interna-
tional will be the largest airport in the world
and is expected to handle 120 million passen-
gers per year by 2020. In the longer term, it will
T H E G U L F R E G I O N By Martijn Reintjes
Masias’ stepping stone
for Kuwait, Iraq and
beyond
Dubai is ‘the place to be and the perfect hub’ for
Spanish recycling technology manufacturer
Masias, proclaims Manuel Serrano. The Dubai-
based representative of Masias since June last
year, his mission is to reinforce the company’s
expansion in the region,
which he describes as
‘one of the most prom-
ising emerging markets
in terms of the techno-
logical development
behind new waste
treatment facilities’.
Economic growth in
these markets, tied to growth in the popula-
tion’s quality of life, ‘requires hi-tech systems in
order to optimise (management of) the volume
of waste generated’, stresses Serrano. ‘In
Kuwait, for example, they hold the world record
for waste per inhabitant at 5.7 kg per day,’ he
points out.
Masias is talking to Saudi authorities – in Mecca,
for instance – about ‘innovative solutions’ for
handling large volumes of waste from the annual
pilgrimage. And in Iraq, Masias is involved in set-
ting up a major waste recycling plant outside the
capital Baghdad. www.masiasrecycling.com
With an economy that is among the fastest-growing in the
world and close to major growth market India, Dubai has
become the new frontier for recyclers and traders. Moreover,
the emirate of 2.2 million-plus people has proved itself to be
a world leader in adopting the latest in recycling technolo-
gies, proclaim machinery suppliers. ‘This is the place to be,’
they chorus. Recycling International reports from the beat-
ing heart of modern Arabia.
A buzzing recycling hub
22 May 2015
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