Wednesday 4 January 2023 – 2.40pm
From the reporting department.
ABU DHABI, 4th January 2019 (WAM) — The UAE has succeeded in establishing an integrated and environmentally friendly system in the field of waste collection and treatment, which supports the achievement of the goals of the ‘Climate-Neutral Strategic Initiative 2050 ” and is in line with the new 50 ten principles relating to sustainable development and ensuring the prosperity of societies.
Recent data released by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment revealed that the number of waste collection and treatment centers in the UAE reached about 44 at the end of last year, spread across various regions of the country.
The UAE applies a sustainable and integrated approach to waste management which aims to achieve the highest treatment and recycling rates for all types of waste generated as a result of the constant increase in population and the growth of various economic activities. In this In context, the UAE managed to treat and recycle approximately 55 million 345 thousand tonnes of construction and demolition waste in the year 2021. With a share of more than 82 per cent of total construction and demolition waste, data indicate also the production of around 112,000 tonnes of fertilization in the same year through agricultural waste treatment interventions, the conversion into energy of around 92,400 tonnes of municipal solid waste and the treatment of around 1,927,000 tonnes of industrial waste.
The country’s government agencies and the private sector collaborate in the implementation of innovative projects and initiatives that promote the interest in the waste recycling industry of all kinds and convert it into energy and other products that can be used, in line with the circular economy approach.
Last May, the opening of the Sharjah waste-to-energy plant, the first of its kind in the Middle East, was a new milestone that joins the United Arab Emirates, in general, and the Emirate of Sharjah, in particular, in the environmental sector and support for a sustainable economy. In the same month, the first project in the area for the recycling of organic waste and its use in the production of feed for animals and fish using insects was launched in the United Arab Emirates, while in the Emirate of Dubai, work continues on the Dubai Waste Treatment Center project in the Al Warsan area, the capacity of which will reach 5,666 tonnes of municipal solid waste produced daily by the Emirate of Dubai, and around 1,900,000 tonnes a year will be diverted from waste into energy renewable energy that will feed the local electricity grid with approximately 200 megawatts of clean energy.
In turn, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is working on the construction of two waste-to-energy plants which, once completed, aim to convert approximately 1.5 million tonnes of municipal waste per year into energy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2.5 million tons per year. .
Interestingly, the UAE has enacted Federal Law No. 12 of 2018 on integrated waste management, which is the first legislation of its kind at the federal level, to encourage the establishment of recycling facilities and recover the maximum amount of recyclable waste – and in some cases – the facilities are required to reuse certain types of waste generated by its activities and by treating separately some types of waste that require special treatment during disposal.
Majdi Salman / Mustafa Badr Al-Din
