SembEnviro Alex Fraser, a 75/25 joint venture company between SembCorp Environmental Management (SembEnviro) and Alex Fraser Group of Australia, today officially opened Southeast Asia’s first integrated construction and demolition waste materials recovery facility in Sarimbun Recycling Park, Lim Chu Kang, Singapore. Minister for the Environment, Lim Swee Say, officiated at the opening ceremony as Guest-of-Honour. 

The opening was witnessed by Australian High Commissioner to Singapore, Gary Quinlan, Managing Director of Alex Fraser Group, Jamie McKellar and Deputy Chairman and CEO of SembCorp Industries, Wong Kok Siew.

The locally-designed $8 million facility will mine up to 2000 tonnes per day of co-mingled wastes such as metals, wood, cartons and hardcore concrete from construction jobsites in Phase 1, while Phase 2 which is expected to commence operation in January 2004 will add an additional 1000 tonnes per day to the capacity of the facility and focus on single stream demolition waste. The facility will play a pivotal role in the recovery of specific construction aggregates such as sand, reducing non-incinerable waste going to landfill and the dependence on virgin materials. 

Aggregates from construction and demolition waste recycling can be used as alternatives for land reclamation and other applications including road construction and filling.

The environmentally friendly materials recovery facility is made from recycled materials like mill waste or materials that can be recycled, except for the sewer pipes and carpeting. Fitted with magnetic separators, picking stations, trommels and blowers, the fully automated facility produces clean recycled aggregates of superior product quality. The research and development arm of the facility will monitor the quality of recovered materials and engineer breakthrough product uses and new products. Trucks deployed to transport waste materials will also be fitted with GPS systems to track the movement of collected waste materials and dispatched recycled materials. 

SembEnviro tested the feasibility of this facility in January 2002 with a pilot plant. The tonnage of construction and demolition waste at the plant has increased 50 fold from 310 tonnes per month to the current 15,000 tonnes per month. 

Said Loh Wai Kiew, President and CEO of SembEnviro: “Considering the vast market opportunities in the Asia Pacific region, we are very excited by our pioneering efforts. We are setting new industry benchmarks, creating new jobs and capturing technology transfer from our joint venture partner, Alex Fraser.” 

In her speech at the opening event, Loh Wai Kiew said: “We believe that with this joint venture we have created a uniquely Asian solution for an Asian problem, with a transfer of Western technology to Singapore. SembEnviro provides the technical expertise, our marketing network, and our experience in co-mingled construction waste recycling, while Alex Fraser provides expertise in the demolition waste market, particularly for recycled concrete aggregates.”

On the partnership, Alex Fraser Group’s managing director, Jamie McKellar said: “SembCorp is a market leader in its many fields of operation and has the business culture and key qualities that Alex Fraser seeks in a business partner--- experience, loyalty, integrity and professionalism.

“This venture will deliver many new benchmarks in Singapore, including the development of truly sustainable environmental practices and industries. The future prospects of this venture, while challenging, will offer considerable long-term economic, environmental and best practice benefits for this country.

“The Alex Fraser Group looks forward to developing this exciting new relationship and to a long and successful partnership agreement.”

Media and Analyst Contact:

Ms Chow Hung Hoeng
Assistant Manager, Group Corporate Relations
SembCorp Industries
Tel: +65 6723 3152
Fax: +65 6822 3240
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sembcorp.com.sg

About SembEnviro

SembEnviro is the largest environmental services company in Asia, offering total integrated environmental management solutions including collection and post collection of waste, recycling and recovery, waste-to-energy, industrial cleaning and cleansing, environmental consultancy & technology, conversion technologies and industrial biological treatment. It owns a stake in SITA Environmental Solutions, the second largest waste management company in Australia with operations in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.
 
In China, SembEnviro has a 60 per cent stake in Shanghai SembEnviro Reliance which is the second largest privately-owned industrial and commercial waste management services company in Pudong, Shanghai while in Malaysia, SembEnviro is engaged in the biomass waste-to-energy business in partnership with Consolidated Plantations, a Sime Darby subsidiary. 
 
About Alex Fraser

The Alex Fraser Group is one of the world’s leading construction and demolition waste recyclers with a track record of 125 years. It operates six specialist divisional companies including Concrete Recycling, Demolition, Asphalt Production and Recycling, Steel and Salvage Sales, Mobile Crushing and Special Projects.
 
An internationally recognised pioneer in this field, the Group maintains an ongoing research and development programme specialising in recyclable materials, technology and value-added products. Its recycling centres have been the model for many overseas commercial businesses and Government authority delegations worldwide.
 
The Group operates five major recycling centers in Australia and has since recycled and sold over 10 million tonnes of material utilised for broad number of applications