Now, return used plastic bottles to earn free bus trips in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Collecting and recycling used plastic bottles can now help commuters earn free trips on Abu Dhabi public buses.

The ‘Points for Plastic Bus Tariff’ initiative has been launched by the emirate’s public transport regulator, the Department of Municipalities and Transport’s Integrated Transport Centre (ITC), in a bid to promote sustainability and recycling.

The ITC is working with the emirate’s environment sector regulator, the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), waste sector regulator, the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer), and DGrade, a UAE-based plastics recycling company to realise the initiative.

How to earn points

Commuters can earn points each time they deposit plastic bottles in DGrade machines, and these points can be compiled and transferred to the personalised Hafilat bus cards issued by the ITC.

In the first phase of the initiative, a plastics deposit machine will be installed in Abu Dhabi’s main bus station, and this will allow passengers to exchange empty plastic containers for points.

Points per bottle

Each single plastic bottle with capacity of 600 millilitres or less will earn one point, while bottles with capacity more than 600 millilitres will earn two points. Each point equals 10 fils, so 10 points collected will lead to a Dh1 deduction in bus fare.

In a statement, the ITC said its initiative aims to promote a culture of sustainability and a greener lifestyle in Abu Dhabi. It is also designed to promote public transport use while promoting environmental responsibility.

Other schemes

The ITC will collect feedback from commuters on the initiative, and measure its impact with the aim of extending it to other areas in the emirate extended to other areas in the emirate.

EAD said the ITC plastic bottles return scheme is a pilot initiative for bottle recovery and recycling, and added that is working to launch an incentivised bottle return scheme in other key locations.