UAE-based Al Shirawi Group, which has interests in manufacturing and packaging among other sectors, has been honoured by the Emirates Environmental Group with the prestigious waste management award.
The conglomerate also won the first runners-up accolade in the mobile phone collection category.
It received a plaque documenting its achievements during the 19th annual award ceremony held at the Ajman Museum. The event, hosted in commemoration of World Environment Day, drew more than 250 attendees including dignitaries from the government and private sectors.
Dr Zakir Malik, corporate manager for Human Resources, commented: “At Al Shirawi, we take every opportunity to build an understanding of environmental issues and sensitise our employees on the need for conservation, especially when it is spearheaded by a credible group such as EEG. We are steadfast on reducing our ecological footprint through big and small measures.”
The group pledged its participation to EEG’s mobile collection drive in a bid to aid mobile phones recycling and rid the environment of potentially harmful metallic substances contained in the handsets. After installing collection boxes across its offices in the UAE, the team embarked on an e-mail campaign to urge employees to donate their old, unused phones.
The group has collaborated with EEG for a range of environmental initiatives in the past as well, including the ‘Clean Up UAE’ campaign.
In 2015, EEG collected approximately 1.4 million kg of waste through eight different campaigns. This helped mitigate 5,353.43 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, saved 39,342 million BTU of energy, 9,184 cu m of landfill space, 34,769 gallons of oil and 28,330 trees from being felled.
Al Shirawi Group operates under the legal name of Oasis Investment Company and has operations across the GCC region. It comprises 34 companies operating across nine business areas: Printing & Packaging, Oil & Gas, Logistics, Heavy Equipment, Manufacturing, Electronics, Engineering Services, Trading and Online Media & Publishing. Founded in 1971, the Group today employs over 8,500 staff.
