INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
Bubele Nyiba, the CEO of the ROSE
Foundation (Recycling Oil Saves the
Environment) says that the used oil
industry in South Africa is an example
of a sector that would greatly benefit
from becoming an entirely closed circular
economy through re-refining, but this will
take time.
Nyiba says that, internationally, there
is a significant trend towards re-refining
of used oil back to base oil. “It is thought
that 70-80% of used oil will be re-refined
back into base oils in Europe by the end of
2020, Nyiba says.
Environmentally, re-refining used oil is the
ultimate solution as it puts less pressure
on natural resources; the emission of
carcinogenic compounds through re-
refining are 15 times lower; it results
in a very low production of pollutants;
CO 2 emissions from re-refining are two
times lower; and re-refining offers an
effective conservation of synthetic base oil
compounds.
“Coupled with the obvious
environmental benefits of re-refining, there
are economic benefits to creating a closed
loop economy – South Africa has an over
reliance on base-oil imports, which can
carry long lead times and are impacted by
exchange rates, logistics, weather patterns,
port operations and so on. All of which
make re-refining an appealing choice for
us,” says Nyiba.
However, South Africa will struggle to
transition towards a closed loop model.
“The local market is driven on price and
it is very expensive to set up a plant to
produce high quality re-refined base oil.
Installing the re-refining infrastructure runs
into millions and very few businesses can
afford an outlay of this magnitude. Coupled
with this we have a very high demand for
burner fuels in South Africa – out of 350
million litres of new oil sold per annum,
120 million litres are collected for recycling.
About 90% of this is processed into fuel
oil, to be used in furnaces, boilers, and
other industrial heating requirements.”
“There are also no government
incentives supporting re-refining or
products made from re-refined base oil;
and power costs are high which impacts
on the energy intensive processes
Global diversification key for Master Drilling growth
Drilling specialist Master Drilling remains
committed to their strategic journey
of diversifying across geographies,
commodities and sectors. According to
Danie Pretorius, CEO of Master Drilling,
the company has worked hard to position
the existing business across regions,
while stabilising new operations and
growing their presence in new territories
like Russia and Australia where, he
says, they believe opportunities will
arise. Pretorius spoke after the release
Danie Pretorius, CEO of Master Drilling.
www.equipmentandhire.co.za
of Master Drilling’s results for the six
months ended 30 June 2019, during
which the company realised an increase
of revenue.
Pretorius said that notwithstanding the
uncertain global business environment,
Master Drilling’s new business pipeline
encompassing all geographies remains
solid, at USD297.1-million and the order
book strong at USD198.6-million.
“While political and economic
factors continue to shape our operating
environment, we continue to spearhead
technological development, stabilise our
global footprint and explore new business
opportunities. As a result, the business
remains stable and well positioned to
benefit from an improved global economic
climate”, says Pretorius.
“Global trade remains under pressure,
impacting negatively on commodity
markets and creating uncertainty around
the future demand for and consumption of
commodities. Nonetheless, we believe this
business is well positioned to withstand
these adverse conditions and to continue
to deliver desirable, efficient and safe
drilling solutions when the inevitable upturn
materializes,” says Pretorius.
SA should embrace used oil
Bubele Nyiba, CEO of the ROSE
Foundation.
involved in re-refining,” explains Nyiba.
“Whereas Europe has a very high level
of environmental awareness amongst
consumers – they label their re-refined
base oil with environmental endorsements
– our market is primarily driven on price and
re-refined oil needs to compete on price
with virgin oil,” says Nyiba.
Modular makes sense
By over-capitalising on Capex,
companies often run the risk of tying
up much needed capital that could
be better utilised in other areas. This
is when modular solutions for the
mining, quarrying, construction and
recycling industries are important.
“From a design perspective, you
can select the components you
need for your specific application.
These units are then interlinked with
conveyors and a solution is tailored
to your specific needs and site
specifications. Once the design is
defined, all the modules and individual
components are sent to site, lifted into
place and bolted together – not unlike
a Mechano set,” Mark Reeves, sales
engineer at Pilot Crushtec, explains.
“In the future, more money will
certainly be spent on the modular
concept. In a world where almost
everything is bespoke, client-centric
offerings, customers expect more
convenient, predictable and reliable
choices,” he adds.
NOVEMBER 2019
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