Dubai: Food. Glorious Food! And it's not just Broadway singing.
Now, Dubai’s landfills are singing to the tune of 1,000 tonnes of food waste per day, according to a senior municipality official on Tuesday.
The plan is to put those tonnes of discarded food to good use by turning them into biofuel.
Food waste is not limited to residential homes: Hotels, catering companies and schools also generate food waste.
Over one year, it means that as much as 365,000 tonnes of food is discarded in Dubai – about 12. 5 per cent of the mountain of waste the emirate generates amounting to 2.92 million tonnes.
In 2014, Gulf News reported that 39 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s 1.1 million tonnes of municipal solid waste was generated from food waste -- or about 429,000 tonnes.
“Residents have to be more efficient when making purchases, and to reduce the amount of food waste, the lifestyle of society has to change,” said Eisa Al Maidour, Deputy Director General of Dubai Municipality.
“We receive about 1,000 tonnes of food waste a day. Those numbers can fall if people carefully chose the food they buy,” he said.
Al Maidour pointed out that, for example, residents could make a conscious effort and buy about 20 per cent of what they would normally purchase.
Although this attempt may lead to more shopping trips, he assured that it would curb the amount of food that are binned.
In 2015, recent statistics further revealed that 3.27 million tonnes of food go to waste in the UAE every year, according to Massar Solutions, a vehicle rental, fleet and supply chain company.
Biogas, fertiliser
Now, Dubai authorities are working towards recycling every scrap of food that end up in its landfills, and are in the process of setting up a biogas plant in Dubai.
The Sustainability Department at Dubai Municipality is the body responsible for carrying out the project.
“By next year, we will have a better idea on its timeline,” he said.
Al Maidour explained that as food is fermented, methane gas is emitted.
The biogas generated is stored and used as fuel for a generator that produces electricity that can feed the power grid.
“Whatever’s left of the organic material can then be used for soil improvement,” he said.
The team will utilise all discarded food to feed back into plants and trees.
“Each year," said Christopher May, chief executive officer, Dubai Golf Yacht Club, "nearly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year."
May added: "These organisational responsibilities form an important part of our mission to have the greatest possible impact on the environment. Therefore, food and organic waste composting is an important step we all need to take together to make a difference for our planet.”
