Recycling is a relatively new concept in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, but determined efforts are being made to establish required recycling infrastructure and to educate and involve the public in recycling efforts.
The Centre for Waste Management (CWM) launched a pilot recycling programme in early 2011, targeting 1,700 homes in Khalifa City B, supported by an awareness campaign in the neighbourhood. Residents were provided with information in four languages, before a targeted distribution of coloured bins for waste and recyclables. According to the education and awareness coordination department at CWM, residents were not only using the system but delighted to do so, they reported.
In February, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Economic Development (ADDED) launched the second phase of their Waste Recycling Project, as part of an ongoing commitment towards environment protection and sustainability. According to the ADDED, this follows several initiatives to preserve the environment, such as their agreement for paper recycling, with Environment Friends Society. Saeed Maktoum Al Qubaisi, Director of General Services at ADDED and Deputy Director of the Environment, Health and Safety Team, says, “We are proud of the level of environmental awareness among our employees, which is translated into environment-protection initiatives and voluntary acts in environment-centric activities that Abu Dhabi is currently witnessing.”
The ADDED is one of the founding entities of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Group, and works closely with government entities to ensure the success of environmental sustainability across aspects.
Six months ago, a high efficiency tyre recycling plant opened in Al Ain. With a system line that is capable of processing up to 8,000kg of old tyres per hour, it is the largest in the UAE. The recycling plant can process waste tyres without costly pre-treatment, and can be expanded in terms of capacity and end-product output.
Abu Dhabi has several million old tyres — mostly in unmanaged landfills — and due to their high fire hazard potential, represent a threat to public health and to the environment. Beside minimising these risks, recycling tyres is also seen as an innovative business opportunity, given that less than 1 per cent is currently recycled. At the plant, old tyres are shredded, downsized and sorted before valuable rubber granulate (99.9 per cent free of steel and textile) emerges as the end product. “The market potential for rubber granulates is high: possible finished products include surfaces for sports fields and playgrounds, material for noise insulation, hoses for under-soil irrigation, and as additive to asphalt for roads,” explains Jamal Abu Issa, President and CEO of Omnix International.
In November last year, the CWM set up a $19 million (about Dh69.7 million) recycling plant to dispose of plastic waste from households and offices across Al Ain, with two production lines, each with a daily capacity of 25 tonnes. Reinhard Goeschl, General Manager, Emirates Environmental Technology, summarises the importance of the Emirates Factory for Plastic Recycling: “By diverting material from landfill and recycling waste materials on one site, the negative environmental impacts of transportation are minimised, while production of recycled raw material will reduce pressure from already depleting natural resources.”
No story about Abu Dhabi’s greening efforts is complete without a mention of Masdar City. When ready, the solar-powered, car-free district will become one of the most environmentally friendly addresses on earth.
But until then, the CWM has engaged two companies to reduce Abu Dhabi’s carbon footprint. Allocated half the city each, Saudi Arabian firm Averda and international operator Lavajet will distribute green recycling bins to homes this year. The bins will be emptied by a fleet of 70 trucks, and the refuse taken to Al Ain where facilities already exist to recycle the paper, glass and plastic that would otherwise be dumped in Abu Dhabi’s landfills. The new contracts are estimated at Dh284 million, in addition to the emirate’s Dh1.5 billion annual waste disposal bill.
Three important establishments spearhead the more public environmental efforts in the capital. The Emirates Environmental Group and Zenath are involved in recycling paper, plastic, aluminium and glass, while Envirofone recycles mobile phones, laptops, monitors and CPUs.
Zenath collects and exports 150,000 tonnes of paper annually for recycling, and also pitches in with domestic glass and aluminium recycling by distributing it to centres in Dubai and Fujairah. Since exporting recyclables across large distances defies the effort, the company is currently engaged in building a local infrastructure for recycling plastic and steel, at factories in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali.
The CWM runs a host of environment-friendly initiatives to manage waste collection and encourage the recycling of various types of waste. Among the most notable is an electro-hydraulic underground waste system across Abu Dhabi that will reduce daily trips by trucks, and eliminate the problems of odours, scavengers and litter around collection points.
The CWM has also proposed the development of a facility that will receive, sort, segregate, process and recycle 5,000 to 8,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste annually. Aecom Technology Corporation’s waste management team recently undertook an environmental baseline study of the proposed site to recommend mitigation strategies, and for works associated with constructing and operating the proposed facility.
In February, Saif Al Shamsi, Director of Excellence and Quality Department at the CWM, announced that Abu Dhabi aims to divert 90 per cent of waste from landfills to the recycling industry by 2018.
Abu Dhabi generates more than 10 million tonnes of waste annually — equivalent to 33,000 tonnes of waste and a per capita waste generation of 1.8 to 2kg per day — which has already occupied about 1,800 hectares of land for landfills, he said. Annual waste in the emirate may catapult to 31 million tonnes a year by 2030, if more environmentally friendly practices are not put in place.
