Dowa launches new Modern Asia Environmental Holdings in Singapore

Singapore

JAPANESE waste management and recycling solutions provider Dowa has announced the formation of the new Modern Asia Environmental Holdings (MAEH), the result of a merger of existing Dowa facilities in Singapore, Technochem Environmental Complex Pte Ltd (Technochem) and Dowa Eco-System Singapore Pte Ltd (ESG).

The merged entity will offer incineration, recycling and precious metal recovery capabilities under one umbrella.

Technochem specialises in water treatment, industrial cleaning services, incineration of waste and the sale of solvents and chemicals. It also runs Dowa's first vertical combustion incinerator outside Japan, and the first of its kind in South-east Asia, where most incinerators tend to lie flat.

This incinerator occupies a smaller physical footprint than most, and uses a super-low air ratio combustion method to reduce fossil fuel consumption.

ESG, meanwhile, focuses on precious metal recovery using a hydrometallurgy process. This enables it to recover gold, silver and palladium from electronic waste, such as printed circuit boards.

At a ceremony on Thursday to mark the merger, National Environment Agency chief executive officer Tan Meng Dui stressed the growing importance of managing both toxic industrial waste and waste from electronic products - the two core business areas of MAEH.

"The Environmental Services industry is a key partner in Singapore's journey towards becoming a zero-waste nation," he said. "I am heartened to note that MAEH has taken a proactive business optimisation approach to better synergise their business operations in Singapore."

MAEH president Hideaki Kobayashi said MAEH could contribute significantly to "the creation of a zero-waste circular economy that will sustain the long-term development of South-east Asia".

"Singapore provides us with an excellent environment to test-bed some of our state-of-the-art waste management and recycling solutions," he added.

Also at the event was Japan's ambassador to Singapore Jun Yamazaki, who praised Dowa's efforts to protect the environment and the "mark they have made in South-east Asia".

Dowa isn't done yet. Having developed proprietary ash smelting technology to produce slag from ash - which can be used for road construction - and implemented it in Japan, MAEH has plans to bring it to the Republic in the near future.

Founded in Yamaguchi prefecture in 1884, Dowa now has overseas operations in Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, with a staff strength of almost 1,500 across the region.