Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) announced it is continuing its activities as part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Clean Up UAE campaign, which was  launched on December 6 in Sharjah, UAE. The first week of the campaign concluded with the clean up of 3 sites; Sharjah, Ajman and Fujairah.  

The second week started with a Clean Up conducted in Dubai on Saturday, December 11 at Al Qudra Lakes. The clean up continued to the capital city, Abu Dhabi with sites opened in Al Shahama and Al Wathba on the 12th December.

A total of 955 participants arrived at the 2 sites and the activity in both locations started after a small opening ceremony where opening speeches were given by the Director General of Al Shahama Municipality H.E. Humaid Rashid Al Dar’ee and Habiba Al Mar’ashi Chaiperson of EEG and Issa Al Shamsi, Permanent Member of EEG.

The participants spread out in the areas wearing reusable cotton gloves and carrying biodegradable bags. A total of 5,800 kg of mixed waste was collected from the two sites. The recyclable materials collected by the participants were segregated from the general waste by EEG team and the volunteers, the segregated paper, plastic, glass and aluminium cans were loaded on trucks and sent to established recycling facilities in the UAE for proper recycling.

The campaign has collected so far this year a total of 22,093 kg of waste from the sites across the five Emirates under the banner of Clean Up UAE 2021. It has registered the participation of 7,555 people representing many entities both government and private and from all walks of life and age groups.

 “The Clean Up UAE campaign in Abu Dhabi was conducted at the edge of two deserts in the Emirate. Even in these sparsely populated sites, a lot of human made trash is scattered everywhere. The careless disposal of waste by human beings is endangering the life of many terrestrial and aquatic organisms,” said Habiba Al Mar’ashi. She highlighted the importance of collaboration with different stakeholders to deliver tangible results and emphasised the importance of the role of all sectors of the society particularly the private sector to achieve development that is sustainable.

“At Zurich, we believe that sustainability needs to be a part of every company’s DNA and core business strategy. Not only do we need to have conversation around it, but as a community, we need to translate these dialogues into actions. Our partnership with EEG will take our commitment to the region’s sustainable goals one step further and help us make a direct contribution to the vision of a more sustainable UAE,” said Reena Vivek, CEO, Zurich in the Middle East.

“This initiative is crucial, not only for driving awareness on the importance of a clean environment, but also for taking an action, and teaching youth by example,” said Ali Bin Hamoodah, CEO, National Food Products Company.