Waste management at Rumaila oilfield, Iraq

Now, more than ever, responsible waste and resource management is recognised as a fundamental component of not only business efficiency and cost reduction but also environmental protection. RSK understands that businesses want to reduce the volume of material they use and discard, and to minimise the price they pay for disposing of it responsibly. We help clients to identify and segregate different types of waste material, to develop appropriate and efficient collection schedules and to assess how to reuse, recycle or dispose of them safely. Chain-of-custody records for the complete waste journey from source to final disposal are maintained and audited to ensure compliance with local legislation. 

In 2015, the Rumaila Operating Organization (ROO) contracted RSK to establish and operate its new Rumaila waste centre in Iraq. Rumaila is one of the largest oilfields in the world: it produces millions of barrels of oil a day and generates a substantial amount of waste. Our responsibilities included collecting and transporting waste from all ROO facilities across the oilfield to a central waste processing facility. RSK’s on-site team of 80 worked in shifts to recover reusable and recyclable materials from the non-hazardous waste before incinerating the remaining organic material. The team baled plastic bottles and cardboard and recycled them locally and used a wood shredder to process non-reusable wood before incineration. After the wood was incinerated, the resulting ash was stored on-site in a lined pit; the ash quality was sampled and analysed to determine if there were any residual contaminants. Specialists in the team collected hazardous waste, including used laboratory chemicals, asbestos and substances contaminated with naturally occurring radioactive materials, then subsequently stored it in purpose-built storage areas.

 The project was a major success for RSK and ROO. It displayed the coherency and efficiency of our Iraqi team and marked an important step forward in improving the way waste is handled in Iraq, as the volume of materials sent to landfill was minimised.