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South African environmental services company moves into petchem, oil refinery sector

GK-IT Environmental Services, a South African leader in bioremediation and environmental product manufacture, is diversifying from the mining industry to the petrochemical and oil refinery sector.

Photo courtesy of GK-IT Environmental Services.
Photo courtesy of GK-IT Environmental Services.

Focusing on the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, Director Chris Cooper said gasoline and diesel range organic compounds can be degraded to levels below 100 parts per million (ppm) using its products. In addition, volatile, semi-volatile, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons can be degraded to below 50 parts per billion.

A South African company established in 2003, GK-IT Environmental Services has developed a range of unique bioremediation products based on micro-organisms such as aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, fungi, yeasts, and molds. The company is a subsidiary of the Man-Dirk group, a specialist supplier of engineering tools and equipment in the maintenance, repair, and operating (MRO) sector.

“We are focusing on the petchem and oil refinery sector as a potential growth area, as there is a considerable risk of spillage and contamination here. The traditional approach to contaminated soil has been a simple ‘dig-and-dump’ approach, which involves physically removing and transporting the material to a toxic landfill site. This not only incurs hazardous-transportation costs, but also poses a major environmental risk while en route,” Cooper said.

GK-IT Environmental Services is able to offer a total “on-site” solution premised on returning contaminated soil to its original pristine condition, a process that normally takes 10 to 12 weeks. The company has a production facility in Randfontein, and also manufactures products for other suppliers.

GK-IT Environmental Services’ product range covers oil, petrochemical, and chemical absorbents, bioremediation products, “green” degreasing chemicals, spillage kits, recycling and waste stations, oil collection stations, and oil/water coalescing plate separators.

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