The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga), the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group (WBG), has announced its support for the region's first greenfield plant that will recycle electric arc furnace (EAF) dust - a hazardous industrial waste generated from the secondary process of steel production - and produce key metals in Saudi Arabia.

The WBG, a family of five international organisations that make leveraged loans to developing countries, said Miga had issued $15.3 million in guarantees to Global Steel Dust of Switzerland for its investments in the construction and operation of the Saudi plant.

Presently, Saudi Arabia is producing about 190,000 tonnes of EAF dust per year, but no facility currently exists to safely and sustainably recycle this waste.

In addition to providing environmental benefits, the plant will support the country’s effort to encourage private sector development and diversify its economy in favour of non-oil industries, stated the WBG in its statement.

The steel dust facility will produce zinc oxide and iron product as main outputs of the recycling process. Zinc oxide will be exported to European markets while the iron product will be used in road construction, cement manufacturing, and steel production in Saudi Arabia.

Additionally, the recycling plant will facilitate the transfer of energy-efficient technology in Saudi Arabia, create new private sector jobs, and enable partnerships with local engineering universities to train and prepare students for opportunities in this sector, it added.

“Miga is delighted to support Saudi Arabia in its efforts to diversify its economic base by attracting foreign investors with strong technological expertise,” said its executive vice president and chief executive Keiko Honda.

“We hope that Global Steel Dust’s construction of the first EAF dust recycling plant in the Mena region will offer Saudi Arabia’s steel industry an environmentally sustainable way of disposing this waste, while also enabling the recovery of key metals,” she stated.

Russ Robinson, the chief executive and chairman of Global Steel Dust, said: "Miga’s support has been crucial in allowing us to enter a new market with confidence and to continue our steel dust recycling operations on a long-term basis."-TradeArabia News Service