Mirdif welcomes recycling drive

Dubai: Waves of eco-minded residents flooded Mirdif Park yesterday armed with bags of paper, plastic, cans and bottles as part of the latest recycling drive by Dubai Municipality.

Clutching bags of discarded receptacles normally destined for local landfills, eager participants deposited their recyclables at Dubai Municipality’s and Dulsco’s drive in Mirdif to raise awareness of recycling in the community.

The enthusiasm was palpable as smiling contributors made their donations for the campaign.

The drive is under the umbrella of Dubai Municipality’s “Clean up the world” campaign – part of the “Clean up the World” global initiative.

Yumayma Al Falasi, Head of customer service at the municipality’s waste management department, said on the sidelines of the activity that Dulsco took over this initiative as they are already working with the municipality on “My City, My Environment” waste management initiative, which is already up and running in some select areas of Dubai.

The municipality is embracing recycling with vigour to create a larger diversion stream of recyclables away from landfill sites that are running out of space.

She explained that there are plans to eventually blanket all areas of Dubai under the recycling programme and discussions are now under way to hold similar drives across different areas of the city in preparation for the full city wide plan.

Ajay Kumar, Deputy General Manager of Operations at Dulsco, said that “My City, My Enviroment” is currently available in Jumeirah 1, 2 and 3, Al Safa 1 and 2, Umm Suqeim 1, 2 and 3, Al Manara, Umm Al Seif and Al Barsha 2 and 3.

Each area has two colour-coded green and black bins with clear instructions for residents on how to separate the waste for easier segregation later on in the waste stream process.

“We have seen great success, with approximately 12-15 per cent of the waste being diverted from landfills through this system.” Kumar said.

He said that they intend to expand into Mirdif shortly and thus they are having this drive.

“We even decided to offer three iPads that three of the recyclers will win in a random draw, to promote the idea, and give out the message that everyone should recycle.”

Craig Plumb, an Australian Mirdif resident, said he was glad that they are bringing recycling awareness to Mirdif.

“We have been recycling paper and cans for years now, and we have to go to Dubai Festival City to drop our recyclables as there are no facilities in Mirdif.”

He said they took the chance that the campaign was taking place in Mirdif to drop their waste.

“It’s great that they will be setting up a facility here and it’ll make it convenient for Mirdif residents,” Plumb said.

Ahmad Jafari, 17, from Sri Lanka, was the first to hand over his recyclables.

“I came early at 4:30pm because I was excited to take part.”

He said he got into recycling because of his school which heavily promoted the ecological benefits of recycling.

“We had many officials from a number of organisations visiting our school and telling us how recycling is a very big thing that can make a difference in the environment, and that the UAE is one the greenest countries in the region, and so I got into it.”

Zara Wani, 10, from the United Kingdom, said she is very passionate about recycling.

“I keep a jar of batteries that ran out and I thought here is a chance to recycle them.”

Zara learned to recycle from her school when she was back in the UK. She is also her class’s recycling ambassador. “I believe in recycling and I think everyone should take part in it.”