ABU DHABI // The emirate’s waste management authority has announced an ambitious 25-year recycling plan that it hopes will be picked up by the rest of the region.
Abu Dhabi will be broken into zones with specific types of recycling centres introduced to match the kinds of waste generated there.
An industrial area such as Mussaffah, for example, needs more metal recycling and recovery than it would for the plastics, paper and glass waste from homes.
“It will be the first time in the GCC that a plan in this nature and size is undertaken,” said Fehily Timoney, managing director of Irish environmental consultancy FT Arabia, which is working with Tadweer on the plan.
“They are hoping that this plan will be a template that other emirates and other countries in the region can follow.”
Tadweer says its master plan will introduce a “sustainable circular economy” for production, with greater emphasis on recycling and re-use to lower the amount of waste dumped.
“It won’t be ‘one size fits all’, it will be very targeted,” said Mr Timoney. “We’re looking at recycling, recovery, public awareness, information and education. We look at what facilities we need, what size and where.”
The plan aims to integrate new facilities with exisiting ones. Landfills where waste is dumped and burnt will be restructured for more energy efficient and environmentally sound methods.
“You have a lot of dump sites that are unengineered, few that are engineered to modern standards,” Mr Timoney said. “There’s a need for transfer stations, regulation and enforcement in recycling, and a need for public awareness.”
The master plan will be put into action over the next 25 years but a public education campaign will begin immediately.
“The most important aspect of this plan is community engagement,” said Issa Al Qubaisi, general manager of Tadweer. “Our plan cannot succeed unless we follow a plan and without the participation of the community we won’t get anywhere.”
Mr Al Qubaisi said the master plan covered “educating students in schools, information in the workplace and in the home environment”.
He said that the plan was part of the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 and a step towards building a sophisticated waste management system in line with the highest international standards.
“I am confident about the enormous environmental, social and economic benefits that we can achieve through the implementation of this plan.”
nalwasmi@thenational.ae
