Thiess Services Middle East will supply at least 750,000 tonnes of recycled aggregates for the first phase of the Etihad rail scheme.

The material, which will be used for the sub ballast layer of the railway, will be supplied to the local Al-Jaber Group, which is executing the earthworks for the phase 1 contractor. It is estimated that the contract will save 5 million truck kilometres from the UAE’s roads.

Thiess Services Middle East has signed a 15-year concession agreement with Abu Dhabi’s Centre for Waste Management in 2009. The $309m deal involved Thiess completing the design and build of a recycling plant for construction and demolition debris produced in the emirate.

The agreement is part of Abu Dhabi’s wider plans to reduce its carbon footprint. The construction waste, which will be recycled by Thiess, would otherwise have gone to a landfill site.

Thiess Services Middle East is a joint venture of Australia’s Thiess Services and the local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton Group.