Wednesday, January 4, 2023 – 2:40 PM
From the reports 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 related to sustainable development and ensuring the prosperity of societies.
Recent data issued 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, distributed in various regions of the country.
The UAE applies a sustainable and integrated approach to waste management that aims to achieve the highest treatment and recycling rates for all types of waste generated as a result of the steady population increase and the growth of various economic activities. In this context, the UAE succeeded in treating and recycling about 55 million and 345 thousand tons of demolition and construction waste in the year 2021. With a rate of more than 82 percent of the total of this type of waste, the data also indicated the production of about 112 thousand tons of fertilizer in the same year through agricultural waste treatment operations, the conversion of about 92 thousand and 400 tons of municipal solid waste into energy, and the treatment of about one million and 927 thousand tons. from industrial waste.
Government agencies in the country and the private sector cooperate in implementing innovative projects and initiatives that promote interest in the waste recycling industry of all kinds and convert it into energy and other products that can be utilized, in line with the circular economy approach.
Last May, the opening of the Sharjah Waste-to-Energy Station, the first of its kind in the Middle East, constituted a new achievement added to the UAE, in general, and the Emirate of Sharjah, in particular, in the environmental sector and support for a sustainable economy. In the same month, the UAE witnessed the launch of the first project in The area for the recycling of organic waste and its use in the production of animal and fish fodder using insects, while in the Emirate of Dubai the work of the Dubai Waste Treatment Center project in the Al Warsan area continues, whose capacity will reach 5,666 tons of municipal solid waste produced by the Emirate of Dubai daily, and about 1,900,000 tons will be diverted from waste annually into renewable energy that will feed the local electricity grid with about 200 megawatts of clean energy.
In turn, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is working on establishing two waste-to-energy plants, which, upon completion, aim to convert approximately 1.5 million tons annually of municipal waste into energy, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2.5 million tons annually.
It is noteworthy that the UAE issued Federal Law No. 12 of 2018 regarding integrated waste management, which is the first legislation of its kind at the federal level, to encourage the establishment of recycling plants and recover the maximum amount of recyclable waste – and in certain cases – facilities are required to reuse certain types of waste. generated from its activities, and by treating some types of waste that need special treatment separately when disposing of them.
Majdi Salman / Mustafa Badr Al-Din