Student initiative to spread environmental awareness

Sharjah/Fujairah: Currently there are no municipal recycling facilities in Fujairah. "But all the larger supermarkets have agreements with companies from outside the emirate to collect their recyclable junk such as cartons and plastics," said Ali Qasim, head of the environment section at Fujairah Municipality.

He added that his department could in the near future introduce a paper recycling operation for government and private institutes in the emirate.

In April, students at the Higher Colleges of Technology and Fujairah Women's College (FWC) inaugurated a new waste recycling initiative to help spread environmental awareness in the emirate.

Believed to be the first of its kind in Fujairah, the project is a joint venture between FWC, Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) and Dulsco. Three steel cages, located within the college's premises in Al Faseel, will act as the first point of call in the recycling process, after which EEG will transport collected items to be recycled in Dubai.

In Sharjah, semi-private company Bee'ah is responsible for collecting, assorting and classifying waste into various categories that will be sent to the recycling factory in Al Saja'a area. The recycling company was intended to be launched in February 2007, but as of last September it was still undergoing trial at the Sharjah Corniche.

Sharjah Municipality will distribute several types of disposal bags to residents as part of the programme to reduce waste, according to Abdullah Al Amiri, Director General of Sharjah Municipality.

"Instead of putting their rubbish in one bag, they can put them in several categories, for glass, plastic and paper," he said.