KUWAIT CITY: More than 42 million old vehicle tires dumped in Kuwait’s sands have started to be recycled, as the Gulf state tackles a waste problem that created one of the world’s largest tire graveyards.
The massive dump site was a mere 7 km from a residential suburb. Residents were bothered by periodic large fires releasing noxious black smoke.
But this month Kuwait, which wants to build 25,000 new houses on the site, finished moving all the tires to a new location at Al-Salmi, where recycling efforts have begun.
At a plant run by the EPSCO Global General Trading recycling company, employees sort and shred scrap tires, before pressing the particles into rubbery colored flooring tiles.
“The factory is helping society by cleaning up the dumped old tires and turning them into consumer products,” said EPSCO partner and CEO Alaa Hassan from EPSCO, adding they also export products to neighboring Gulf countries and Asia.
The EPSCO plant, which began operations in January 2021, can recycle up to 3 million tires a year, the company said. Scrap tires are a major environmental problem worldwide due to their bulk and the chemicals they can release.
Kuwait, an OPEC member with a population around 4.5 million, had about 2.4 million vehicles in 2019, Central Statistical Bureau data shows, up from 1.5 million in 2010.
The government hopes Al-Salmi will become a tire recycling hub, with more factories planned.
The Al Khair Group transported more than half of all the tires to the new site using up to 500 trucks a day and is planning to open a factory to burn the tires through a process called pyrolysis, its CEO Hammoud Al-Marri said.
Pyrolysis produces a type of oil which can be sold for use in industrial furnaces such as cement factories, and an ash known as carbon black that can be used in various industries.
Kuwait starts to recycle massive tire graveyard
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Kuwait starts to recycle massive tire graveyard
- The EPSCO plant, which began operations in January 2021, can recycle up to 3 million tires a year, the company said
Elysee Palace silver steward arrested for stealing thousands of euros’ worth of silverware
- The Sevres Manufactory — which supplied most of the furnishings — identified several of the missing items on online auction websites
- Investigators later found around 100 objects in the silver steward’s personal locker, his vehicle and their home
PARIS: Three men will stand trial next year after a silver steward employed at the official residence of the French president was arrested this week for the theft of items of silverware and table service worth thousands of euros, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
The Elysee Palace’s head steward reported the disappearance, with the estimated loss ranging between 15,000 and 40,000 euros (($17,500-$47,000).
The Sevres Manufactory — which supplied most of the furnishings — identified several of the missing items on online auction websites. Questioning of Elysee staff led investigators to suspect one of the silver stewards, whose inventory records gave the impression he was planning future thefts.
Investigators established that the man was in a relationship with the manager of a company specializing in the online sale of objects, notably tableware. Investigators discovered on his Vinted account a plate stamped “French Air Force” and “Sevres Manufactory” ashtrays that are not available to the general public.
Around 100 objects were found in the silver steward’s personal locker, his vehicle and their home. Among the items recovered were copper saucepans, Sevres porcelain, a René Lalique statuette and Baccarat champagne coupes.
The two were arrested Tuesday. Investigators also identified a single receiver of the stolen goods. The recovered items were returned to the Elysee Palace.
The three suspects appeared in court Thursday on charges of jointly stealing movable property listed as part of the national heritage — an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000-euro fine, as well as aggravated handling of stolen goods.
The trial was postponed to Feb. 26. The defendants were placed under judicial supervision, banned from contacting one another, prohibited from appearing at auction venues and barred from their professional activities.
