SunCorp

Along with the booming growth that makes Dubai one of the most rapidly growing cities in the world, the emirate also has the dubious distinction of generating high amounts of waste. Statistics show that, at 1.676 kilograms (3.69 lbs) per capita per day, Dubai is one of the world's largest producers of waste.
At present, Dubai generates 7,000 tons of waste daily, dumped in various landfills located at Al Ghusais, Jebel Ali, Lehbab and Hatta, with the Al Ghusais landfill the largest. On average, 6,000 tons of waste is taken to Al Ghusais for disposal every day.

The waste is likely to increase by 16 percent in the next few years, posing a major challenge to Dubai Municipality to minimize the effects of waste on the environment.

Is there a plan to deal with this growing waste?

Dubai Municipality has started the Middle East's largest material recovery facility, Tadweer, which went into operation at Warsan in March and can recycle 4,000 tons of municipal solid waste per day.
Lina Chaaban, envirocare manager of Tadweer, says that a proper management system is needed to tackle the growing waste in the emirate. "Dubai is expanding rapidly, and the emirate has to seriously design new ways to minimize the waste. Apart from establishing new recycling plants, there is also a need to educate people about sorting out their waste before they throw it into the dustbin, something widely practiced in developed Western countries," says Chaaban.

Landfills are not a viable solution, she says. "We have to think about reducing the use of landfills. People have the notion that plenty of land is available that can be converted into landfills. If we go on transforming empty land into landfills, we might soon run out of land, considering the fact Dubai generates an enormous amount of waste every day," she warns.

"The only alternative is to set up waste recycling plants that can sort the waste for recycling in an effective way," she adds.

"More efforts need to be made by the government to promote recycling, but this is made difficult by the fact that a large percentage of the city's residents represent a 'floating population.' People leave after only a few years and are in the UAE only temporarily. This makes creating awareness even more difficult than it already is," says Chaaban.

Tadweer, the new recycling plant at Warsan, is helping a lot to minimize the waste, recycling paper, plastic, metal and glass objects for reuse as raw material to manufacture other things, such as plastic balls and synthetic boards.

The residues from sorting and recycling will be treated further, using high technology to produce enough electrical power to cover the requirements of the project.

The civic body has spent AED 500 million (US$27.2 million) in building the facility, which was inaugurated in March by Hussain Lootah, acting director general of Dubai Municipality.

Naji Alradhi, head of the waste treatment section of Dubai Municipality, said that the civic body is immediately covering waste disposed on dry land with sand so as to minimize the emission of gases and the absorption of humidity. He ruled out environmental degradation due to landfills, however. "We have recently carried out a pollution study to determine the impact of landfills on air, soil and groundwater. We have not found any evidence of contamination due to landfills," added Alradhi. "We are taking all measures, like covering the waste with sand, to ensure that landfills do not create any pollution of the surroundings."

In the last 10 years Dubai has made some efforts to deal with the excessive amounts of waste generated by the city. In 2005, 46,000 tons of recyclable material, representing only three percent of total general waste, was collected from 42 recycling centers by Dubai Municipality and by private companies. Compared with other emirates, Dubai has the most recycling centers, but not enough residents are making use of them.

Recently, the emirate has installed recycling systems in various service centers and encourages their use through their "recycle and win" campaign. Every time an individual utilizes these units, he/she automatically obtains coupons that would entitle him/her to participate in special offers and receive discounts for products at the emirate's retail outlets. Dubai will also hold the first exhibition of waste management technologies in November 2006, entitled "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle."

"The private sector has a big role in reducing waste, as it is their corporate social responsibility to do so," said Habiba Al-Marashi, chair of the Emirates' Environmental Group, a non-governmental organization striving to protect the environment in the UAE.

She said that in a market-driven society, the private sector has a dominant role in almost all aspects of growth, including the environment.

"Environmental protection should be included as a key feature of well rounded growth. In fact there are certain standards the private sector should adhere to with regard to environmental protection," she says.

"Some of these mechanisms include clean-up reduction strategies, establishment of environmental management systems (EMS) and volunteerism in environmental activities by their employees," she adds.

She says that environment consciousness among people is low in the country. "Apathy is the biggest problem in the UAE. It is the attitude of people that should be changed. The best recycling facilities will be useless if the community will not do its share in recycling its waste," she points out.

She says that by following the three R's -- Reduce, Reuse and Recycle -- one can help protect the environment and minimize waste, reduce the country's ecological degradation and protect the environment.

"Recycling also lessens our demand for new materials. For instance, a ton of recycled paper saves around 17 full-grown trees from being cut. By following simple recycling methods, many individuals and companies can contribute to saving our precious natural resources."

Reducing, Reusing and Recycling saves the environment from deteriorating, to know more about our reusable bags in cotton and other fabrics do visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/suncorp or write to us at info@suncorp.in