There are also the individual strategies of various emirates that set out their plans to meet the targets set out by the UAE. This includes the adoption of a circular economy approach to waste recycling practices and moving towards more sustainable production and consumption in the long run.

Waste management is one of the biggest challenges that fast-growing economies face today and the GCC countries constantly rank among the highest waste generating nations per capita in the world. Estimates of the total amount of waste generated in the region range from 90 million to 100 million metric tons annually and the situation is quite complex. Nevertheless, various nations in the region have realised the opportunity this situation presents in terms of recycling and diverting maximum waste away from landfills. Waste recycling has been identified as a top priority and many countries have already prepared their masterplans to achieve their waste diversion goals.

The strategic vision of the UAE government is to attain excellence through sustainable waste management practices to achieve the ultimate goal of ‘zero waste to landfill’. The UAE national agenda sets out a vision to divert away from landfills through a policy of reusing, recycling or other types of advanced treatment and a 100% diversion rate is being planned.

The UAE Cabinet recently approved the formation of the UAE Circular Economy Policy 2021-2031 that targets the adoption of the circular economy concept in four priority areas – green infrastructure, sustainable transportation, sustainable manufacturing, and sustainable food production and consumption. The policy comprises eight pillars including integrated waste management and environmentally sound chemicals management.

The integrated waste management pillar focuses on cutting down on waste generation at source, and mitigating the economic, health, and environmental risks resulting from unsustainable waste treatment and disposal. It also aims to establish the UAE as a pioneering model in the field of circular economy by turning waste-related challenges into development opportunities, and transforming waste from an environmental burden into an important economic resource.

Targets for waste management include treating 75% solid waste by 2025 and 85% by 2035, and reducing waste generation to 1.2 kg per person per day by 2035. The policy outlines supporting measures for a smooth and successful shift to a circular economy. Following the cabinet’s approval of the circular economy policy, the minster of Climate Change and Environment H.E. Dr Abdullah Al Nuaimi said, “By optimising the use of resources and reducing waste, the transition to a circular economy will enable the UAE to unlock new sustainable economic opportunities that will help the nation become stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous following the massive disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

In line with the national agenda, all the emirates have adopted comprehensive strategies and have been launching several initiatives, including their ambitious waste management masterplans. Considering the focus is now on circular economy, different emirates are taking an integrated approach in introducing sustainable practices in waste management and introducing appropriate waste recycling programmes to enable a circular economy. They are enhancing the recycling infrastructure and introducing new technologies to improve their efforts to achieve their ultimate goals.

For instance, the emirate of Sharjah has taken an integrated approach to environmental management by bringing the best of sustainable practices in waste management and technologies to enable a circular economy and reduce dependency on landfills. Bee’ah the entity responsible for waste management in Sharjah recently said it has achieved around 75 percent waste diversion rate and this is projected to reach 100 percent soon upon completion of the waste-to-energy plant in the emirate.

Sharjah has introduced commendable recycling infrastructure and technologies, and has been intensifying its efforts to achieve zero waste to landfill. The waste management complex processes millions of tonnes of waste annually, by recycling, recovering and regenerating materials for reuse. The complex houses the material recovery facility (MRF); an industrial waste water treatment plant; a cryogenic tyre recycling facility that recycles old tyres into useful rubber products; a construction and demolition (C&D) waste recycling facility with a high recovery rate; and the car and metal shredding and recycling facility, which has “powerful shredding machines capable of processing a vehicle in 60 seconds”.

Sharjah recently announced its solar landfill project. Emirates Waste to Energy Company, a joint venture (JV) between Bee’ah and Masdar, will develop Sharjah’s landfill into a solar farm. The company will deliver the solar photovoltaic (PV) project that will comprise up to 120 megawatts (MW) and will be constructed on top of Sharjah’s Al Sa’jah landfill in close proximity to the Sharjah Waste to Energy facility and Bee’ah’s Waste Management Complex. The first phase of the solar landfill project is expected to be completed in 2023. The Sharjah Waste to Energy facility is being developed and managed by the Emirates Waste to Energy Company. Upon completion this year, the 30 mw plant will process more than 37.5 tonnes of municipal solid waste per hour to generate electricity sustainably and divert more than 300,000 tonnes of municipal waste away from landfills every year.

As Dubai continues to raise the bar in all fields in line with its strategy to become a smart and sustainable city, Dubai Municipality is implementing measures to enhance operational efficiencies in various areas and improve the quality of life of its residents, at the same time ensuring environmental protection. The municipality’s waste management department is constantly looking to raise the standards and keep pace with developments around the world, not only with regard to best practices, but also with regard to the latest technologies that are available on the market.

It opened in 2019 a unique hazardous industrial wastewater treatment plant equipped with advanced technology at the Jebel Ali Hazardous Waste Treatment Complex. The plant is capable of achieving the highest hygiene and environment standards as after being treated the wastewater is reusable as irrigation water. The municipality awarded a contract to Besix last year to build and operate the Al Qusais landfill gas-to-energy project. The facility will produce sustainable energy and prevent environmentally harmful landfill gas from escaping into the atmosphere. The project is part of the entity’s strategic plan for integrated waste management.

A major waste to energy plant is also to be built in the emirate. The opening of The Recycling Hub in Dubai a couple of years back has led to a major shift in e-scrap recycling. Enviroserve’s electronic scrap recycling plant touted as the largest integrated electronic and specialised waste recycling facility in the world also features brand protection service, ITAD and refrigerant gas recovery and reclaim divisions. The facility equipped with state-ofthe- art Swiss technology has the capacity to process 100,000 tonnes of total integrated waste per annum including 39,000 tonnes of e-scrap.

Ras Al Khaimah has been putting in place requisite infrastructure to achieve the waste diversion goals. RAK Waste Management Agency reopened its upgraded Material Recovery Facility end 2019. The plant that has been operational since 2003, has been revamped with a semi-automatic line and has been designed to handle 400 tonnes of municipal solid waste per day. The agency implemented three food treatment hubs and two drop off recycling centres to help the public understand why source separation is important in recovering recycling materials.

In Abu Dhabi, the Centre of Waste Management (Tadweer) which is responsible for the policy and contractual systems for waste management in the emirate has laid out its framework and has been implementing various schemes for different waste streams through various contracts awarded to waste management and recycling companies. Tadweer has recently ramped up its efforts to enhance the emirate’s waste recycling infrastructure.

The Centre reopened the Ghayathi Crusher in Al Dhafra Region this month as part of its strategic plan for environmental sustainability. The facility is aimed to lower C&D waste in the emirate. Incorporating the latest standards, the crusher can produce high-quality aggregate for the construction of vital infrastructure projects such as roads to contribute to the sustainable development. The emirate has a tyre recycling facility that has been operational for over a decade. Gulf Rubber Factory, a public-private joint venture, utilises cuttingedge recycling technologies to produce different sizes of rubber granules from recycled tyres in an economically sustainable and ecofriendly process called crumbing.

The Centre opened an eco-friendly waste treatment complex named ‘Eco Park’ in December. According to the entity, the complex will be a turning point in their plans to contribute to building an integrated ecosystem that supports Abu Dhabi Environment Vision 2030. The complex features dedicated facilities for the treatment of medical and hazardous waste. An incinerator to treat animal carcass with a capacity of 2,000 kg per hour is also operational under the supervision of Averda. As part of its strategy to run all its facilities on renewable energy, the entity opened the first battery solar system in the region at its Al Dhafra Landfill in 2019.

The facility has minimal operation and maintenance costs and utilises the latest energy management technologies. Tadweer recently opened the second phase of the solar power plant project at the C&D waste recycling facility in Al Dhafra. Furthermore, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) teamed up with the Coalition of Innovation in Recycling towards a Closed Loop Economy (Coalition Circle) in 2019 to pilot a closed loop recycling model for plastic bottles, beverage cartons, and other packaging in Abu Dhabi.

According to the coalition, they signed a pledge representing a voluntary commitment to developing a circular economy model to tackle plastic and packaging waste pollution by improving mechanisms of collection and recycling. Following the project, they will develop recommendations to accelerate sustainability solutions for an optimised waste management infrastructure, the coalition had announced. Members of Coalition Circle include BASF, Borouge, Tetra Pak, Carrefour, Unilever, Dow Chemicals, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, GPCA among others.