|
Blackanthem Military News
|
Last Updated:
Aug 29, 2008 - 11:23:51 AM |
|
|
Blackanthem Military News
 |
| Naseb Saad Hasan Altememy, the general manager for Almandhour United Co., holds up a can of future profits for his recycling center site here July 7, at a refuse collection site at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The recycling center, which will provide jobs to local Iraqis, will assist current efforts to sort through daily garbage collection on post for recyclables. The recyclables will then be shipped off post and sold for profit on the Iraqi market. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III) |
BALAD, Iraq - A war can be messy, literally; from daily trash collections conducted by roving of garbage trucks, to amassing scrap metals born from the aftermath of battle, waste management is a serious business for U.S. Forces in Iraq.
And that business is about to become worthwhile for Iraqi people and further consolidate security gains made by the Iraqi government and security forces. During a ribbon-cutting ceremony, July 10, U.S. Forces, contractors and Iraqi business leaders commemorated the opening of a recycling center designed to turn the military's trash into Iraq's economic treasure.
Contracted through Iraqi-owned Almandhour United Company, the center is designed to spur green practices among JBB's waste management operations by creating a hub for recyclables to be collected and shipped to recycling plants throughout Iraq. In the past, recyclables that are collected are either burned in incinerators or stockpiled throughout various holding areas on post. With the new recycling center, large amounts of aluminum, glass, plastics, cardboard and steel products are instead packed up and shipped to recycling centers near Baghdad and sold on the Iraqi market.
Neseb Saad Hasan Altememy, Albu-Hassan, Iraq, the general manager Almandhour United, said that his company plans to profit most from the large amounts of aluminum thrown away on JBB. According to U.S. Army figures, more than 90,000 aluminum soda cans are thrown away daily on post. Altememy said that the center will be able to export more than a ton of aluminum each day, which goes for about $750 on the Iraqi market.
"This is a great day for Joint Base Balad because we've solved a problem that's been present here for a long time, and it's a great day because we have yet another opportunity to help the local economy," said Brig. Gen. Brian Bishop, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing and installation commander.
"With the addition of this center, Joint Base Balad looks to reduce its trash volume by literally tons a day," said Col. Kenneth Newlin, deputy commander of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. "The center will also have the ability to drive new industries here and allow us to aggressively seek a new market for plastics recycling locally."
"If we're ever going to leave this country, we have to build not only by supporting its people, but its economy, too," said Air Force Capt. Robert Yates, a contracting officer with the Air Force's Joint Contracting Command-Iraq.
Besides providing a green approach to bolstering the Iraqi economy, the center will also present jobs to local Iraqis. JCC-I crafted the contract, hiring and negotiations were headed up by members of the 76th IBCT, Indiana National Guard, and their work with the Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone initiative. Because both departments have strict hiring standards written into the contracts, the Iraqi people have first pick when it comes to these jobs.
"The I-BIZ program does an excellent job because it allows the U.S. government to share these kinds of contracts more often with the Iraqi people, rather than with larger contractors who are here from other countries," Altememy said. "We feel like we have developed trust from the U.S., and so now better jobs are available to us."
Better jobs equal better security measures, said Capt. Lynn Thompson, Joint Base Balad's waste management officer.
"We give them a safe job, so they don't need a dangerous one like shooting at American Soldiers or planting IEDs," said Thompson.
In addition to making money for its host nation, U.S. Forces plan to benefit from the contract in the form of cost savings. Originally, a contract with non-Iraqi contractors was envisioned, with a price tag of about $1.5 million per year. Because Almandhour United will profit from the recyclables alone, no bidding costs were incurred through contracting agreements.
"They key is that we're doing this for free," Yates said. "Rather than paying one contractor to help look after our environment, we instead took a win-win approach by choosing to localize."
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
 |
| Capt. Lynn Thompson, the waste management officer for Joint Base Balad, Iraq, poses during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an Iraqi-run recycling center Thursday, July 11, 2008, on post. Thompson, a member of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Indiana National Guard, helped to ensure the contract with the Iraqi-based Almandhour United Co., moved forward through the Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone initiative. The Air Force's Joint Contracting Command-Iraq also assisted with drawing up the contracts, which will allow the recycling center to ship more than a ton of aluminum, steel, cardboard and plastics products off JBB daily and sell them on the Iraqi market. (Photo by Army Staff Sgt. Les Newport) |
|
 |
| 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Deputy Commander Col. Kenneth Newlin greets local leader Sheikh Saad Hasan Altememy during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an Iraqi-run recycling center Thursday, July 11, 2008, at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. The 76th IBCT, along with many other sheikhs from the surrounding Balad area, are currently working together through the Iraqi-Based Industrial Zone program. The initiative compliments the Multi-National Forces-Iraq's mission by providing safe, secure jobs for local Iraqis and by giving them additional contracting opportunities normally reserved for larger, foreign corporations. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III) |
|
 |
| Sheikh Saad Hasan Altememy, a local leader near Balad, Iraq, confers with Joint Base Balad Installation Commander Air Force Brig. Gen. Brian Bishop, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for an Iraqi-run recycling center Thursday, July 11, 2008, on post. The recycling center, which will provide 30 jobs to local Iraqis, will assist current efforts to sort through daily garbage collection on post for recyclables. The recyclables will then be shipped off post and sold for profit on the Iraqi market. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Robert G. Cooper III) |
|
|
|
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
