RIYADH, 6 November 2006 — A leading US environmental solutions company is to introduce a new waste oil recycling plant in the Kingdom to treat and distill waste motor and engine oil and recycle it back to its virgin lube condition so it could be re-used.
“A good number of companies have shown interest in purchasing this plant which would be cost effective and functional,” Luke Staengl, president of PESCO, told Arab News yesterday.
Luke is a member of the visiting US trade delegation from the state of Virginia which is currently meeting Saudi businessmen in the capital. The Saudi-US Business Council hosted a reception to the seven-member delegation, headed by Joseph A Robinson. The delegation is eyeing new areas of cooperation in the field of commerce.
Luke said some companies do have similar recycling plants in the Kingdom, but they are either nonfunctional or too expensive to maintain. The new plant would cost only $3 million and this investment could be recovered within 12 months, he stressed.
He said plans are under way to install these plants in Jeddah, Riyadh, Jizan and Dammam and each of them would produce 2,000 to 3,000 liters of re-refined oil per hour.
A large volume of used engine and automobile oil is found in the Kingdom, he said, adding: “They are partly exported to African countries and the rest is discarded causing environment pollution in the Kingdom.”
He also said that export of used oil beyond the national boundaries will be stopped shortly due to international shipping regulations.
Therefore, he emphasized that there will be a great demand for re-refining used oil. He said the local companies will re-export the recycled oil since local culture and the people’s mind-set do not encourage the sale of recycled oil in the Kingdom.”
Robinson said this is the fifth time a delegation has come from Virginia. “The last delegation from the state came here four years ago. Now we know that there is a conducive climate for bilateral trade in the Kingdom,” he added.