Dubai: Recycling is the only way of preserving the earth’s natural resources, said Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group, as she led her annual can collection drive, collecting 6,250kg of aluminium cans from across the UAE.
More than 250 private and public sector organisations took part in the campaign, apart from individuals including students, teachers and housewives.
The collection is equivalent to mitigating 94 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and will help save 152 cubic metres of landfill space.
Al Marashi said that apart from mitigating CO2 emissions, recycling helps preserve fast-exhausting natural resources, while also helping reduce landfill space and cost of production.
“Every can you throw is a burden on earth, because it ends up in a landfill, occupying the space as well as wasting the precious resources,” said Al Marashi.
She said that the UAE is a small country and has limited space.
“These cans are light, but they take a lot of space and if we continue to let them occupy the space, one day we won’t have any space left. UAE is a small country and we can’t afford to waste our limited space,” said Al Marashi.
She added that recycling aluminium cans and reusing them as raw material for other products is cheaper than producing the metal from the ore.
“As much as 3 tonnes of mountain land mass is destroyed to produce 1 tonne of bauxite, while if you recycle, one tonne of cans will produce the same amount of aluminium. It also saves water, energy and other resources, which goes to show that more than a waste management mechanism it is an economic necessity,” she explained.
Al Marashi said that the campaign has grown over the years, with larger numbers of people including schools and individual students participating every year.
Toby Waite, a 12-year-old student, is a regular participant and this year he collected 20kg of cans, with the help of his sister Amber.
“This our small contribution to help save the environment and if all us do this I am sure this will translate into a massive movement preserving our vital resources,” said Toby.
His 15-year-old sister Amber said that together the siblings collect waste paper, plastic as well as cans from restaurants, their school and their community.
EEG has met 90 per cent of its target of 27,000kg of cans this year, recycling 24,263kg of aluminium cans since the beginning of 2016.
The effort has so far helped mitigate 364 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions and saved 589 cubic metres of landfill space.
Over the years, the organisation has collected 275,563kg of cans, preventing unnecessary disposal of these valuable recyclables to landfills, in turn saving 6,689 cubic metres of landfill space and mitigating 4,136 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.
