Dubai: An ambitious plan to hook up some 90 buildings on Shaikh Zayed Road to an automatic waste collection system is in the final stages of approval, XPRESS can exclusively reveal.
The Automated Pneumatic Waste Collection (APWC) scheme will be able to zip away 200 tonnes of garbage from the buildings' trash chutes every day, through an underground tunnel network.
Waste side story
Skyscrapers between the Trade Centre roundabout and the first interchange will be connected to 50cm-wide steel pipes with a total running length of 10 kilometres.
Eighteen fans with a combined power of 2,880 kilowatts will create a suction effect that will pull air and waste through the grid at 100km/h towards a rubbish collection centre behind Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The pooled trash will fall into a compactor and be transported by road to landfills.
Meanwhile, ducts and bio-filters will ensure only clean air leaves the control station.
Sensors will check when the chutes meet a certain trash level and turn on the vacuum system. The air flow and rubbish streams will be monitored electronically for any slowdowns or blockages.
The landmark plan is said to be a first for Dubai, which produces around 10,000 tonnes of general waste per day.
September start
Work on the Dubai Municipality project could start as early as September, said Ros Roca (RR), a Spanish company shortlisted for the task.
Ajman-based Excel Industry is introducing the technology here in association with RR.
RR's international businesses developer Carles Torres added the project could go live by March 2013.
"No more smelly bins, garbage trucks, pollution or traffic jams - this project will change all that," Torres told XPRESS in a telephonic interview from Spain.
