How to up your recycling game in the UAE this Earth Day

With so many options across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates, there is no longer an excuse not to get involved

There are myriad ways for UAE residents to embrace recycling this Earth Day. Fatima Al Marzooqi / The National

April 22 marks Earth Day, the annual reminder for us all to take stock of the impact we have on the planet.

Running since 1970, Earth Day will once again deliver its message to reduce, reuse and recycle, pressing home the idea that it is better to reuse what we already have, than to continue to make anew.

Plastic Oceans International estimates that 380 million tonnes of virgin plastic is made using fossil fuels each year, yet only 9 per cent of this is recycled.

Meanwhile, 50 billion tonnes of sand is used annually by glassmaking and construction industries, taken mostly from beaches and river beds. This is having such a detrimental impact that, speaking at a symposium in 2017, Dutch design duo Atelier NL explained that after fresh water, sand is the “most consumed resource” in the world.

Despite this, recycling rates for glass are poor, with the American Chemical Society confirming that in the US, only 30 per cent of the annual 10 million metric tonnes of glass are recycled, with the remaining 70 per cent going into landfills.

Thankfully, it is easier than ever to get involved with recycling efforts, and here in the UAE, companies and government initiatives can help reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill, helping us recycle everything from household scraps to fridges.

A good place to start

Aluminum drinks cans are a perfect place to start recycling, because these can be endlessly recycled without compromising quality. Annually, two per cent of the world's energy consumption is used to make aluminium, and this is used to create more than 180 billion drinks cans a year.

In the UAE alone, we get through about 500 million cans annually, with 93 per cent of these going into landfills. Like glass, aluminium can be recycled indefinitely, so not only can a can be melted down to make a new vessel, doing so requires only five per cent of the energy needed to make the original.

Recapp is one company that offers recycling facilities in the UAE for cans and plastic bottles. Founded in Abu Dhabi in 2020, this household recycling collection company for domestic and corporate customershas proven so popular, it has recently expanded its operation into Dubai.

It offers a two tier service — for households and businesses. Free for families and individuals, it has an app that can be used to book collections of plastic and cans ready to be recycled. These must be washed, flattened and sorted from other household waste. Each kilo of recycling earns points, with 10kg giving users 1,200 points, which can be redeemed at places such as Carrefour, The Giving Movement and Noon. The company also provides a map on its website showing additional recycling drop off points.

Companies, meanwhile, can buy recycling collection boxes — for paper and drinks cans — which will be collected when full, or can opt to sign up to a monthly subscription collection service. To date, Recapp has more than 15,000 users and has collected upwards of 150 tonnes of used plastic and drinks cans.

On a smaller scale is Washmen, the home pick-up laundry service that also collects paper and plastic for recycling for free. Simply put recyclables into a bag or box, add a recycling sticker (supplied by the company) and then book a collection through the Washmen app.

Recycling household appliances in the UAE

Across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other emirates, recycling drop-off centres accept clothes, plastic, paper and cardboard for recycling. For larger items that can't be dropped off easily, there are still ways to recycle.

Old fridges and air conditioning units are not only bulky, but can contain potentially dangerous refrigerants gases, which require expert handling. Enviroserve in Dubai specialises in handling electrical and IT waste, including old white goods. Home pick-ups for its Green Truck service can be easily booked over the phone.

Planet Green is another specialist company that collects, sorts and recycles hazardous items such as aerosol cans and e-waste including kettles, ovens and computers. As well as safely recycling aerosols — which can explode if mishandled — it will also dismantle e-waste to retrieve any reusable materials. For companies looking to offload excess stock — from paint cans to old fax machines — Planet Green can take these and sort and recycle them as required.

When it comes to smaller household electrical waste, the UAE introduced a new rule in 2021 that makes it mandatory for retailers of such goods to provide in-store collection boxes for batteries and devices.

Also, companies such as Apple and Samsung are increasingly offering buy back schemes for old mobile handsets, in the form of discounts against a new product. As well as saving money, these schemes see the handsets taken apart so that valuable lithium, copper, cobalt, manganese and tungsten inside can be reclaimed.

In the UAE, there are ambitious plans to roll out colour-coded recycling boxes to households across the emirates, allowing for kerbside recycling. To date, only Sharjah offers such a service with four boxes per household. Green boxes are for paper, cardboard, metal glass and plastic, while food and organic waste is put in a brown box. General waste goes into a black box, while red boxes are for hazardous material, including empty aerosol cans and paint cans.

Despite the UAE's small population, the country uses more than four billion plastic bottles a year — one of the highest rates in the world. To help combat this, UAE company DGrade is dedicated to collecting and repurposing plastic water bottles, turning them into clothing and running recycling initiatives with businesses and schools.

Refillable water bottles and moving away from plastic bags

For an easy way to use what you already have, there are numerous free water refill sites across Dubai that anyone can use, instead of buying a new bottle of water.

The Dubai Can Initiative, launched in February by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has installed water fountains in various locations across the city, including public parks, beaches and tourist attractions in a bid to encourage people to carry refillable bottles.

Companies such as Flowater and Water Club sell tap water filtration systems that remove contaminates, micro plastics and bacteria from water, and these can be installed in homes or offices, so there's no need to keep ordering plastic water bottles.

Last year, the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi installed “Big Zero” sculptures around the capital. These art installations act as collection points for the public to deposit single-use plastic bottles for recycling, and are part of the emirate's wider Mission to Zero programme designed to eliminate single use plastic.

The UAE capital also implemented a ban on plastic bags last year, making it the first in the Middle East to do so. This ban is set to be extended in 2024, when single-use Styrofoam cups, plates and food containers will also be banned.

And for those wondering where the materials they recycle go, 12,000 tonnes a year of Pet plastic will be diverted to a mammoth soon-to-be-built recycling plant in Abu Dhabi, while Abu Dhabi's Waste Management Centre, Tadweer, already has 26 sites across the emirate processing household waste. It has also joined forces with StartAD — an initiative by New York University Abu Dhabi and local company Tamkeen — to create a “Smart Bin” service that will work to sort waste and let customers know how much carbon is being saved with each item recycled.