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Rapid urbanization and industrialization coupled with the galloping population is posing a massive waste problem. The trash generated in our cities is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
A recent study by Frost and Sullivan indicates that the volume of total garbage in the GCC will go up from 94 million MT in 2015 to 120 million annually by 2020. The mounting municipal waste demands urgency to adopt the circular economy, where the industrial systems are designed in a manner that they are restorative and regenerative in nature. In such an economy, the waste generated in one process becomes nourishment to another. Reusing and recycling are the core
fundamentals of a circular economy. And these have to be done in an innovative and scientific way to maintain environmental sustainability.
Back in the 1960s when the circular economy concept was floated, waste management was not as complicated as it is now. The wanton use of plastic and scarcity of land to create new landfills have unleashed new challenges now. The landfills have reached their capacity. Each year, 8 million metric tons of plastic is ending up in our oceans. According to statistics, an average person in the UAE produces 1.8 to 2.4 kg of waste per day. Around 66% of this waste is dumped in the landfills. By 2027, the UAE is expected to generate 29 million MT of trash.
The growing waste calls for a whole new approach to manage it. And the UAE is scaling up efforts to take new steps towards zero-waste goal envisaged in the Waste Management Plan 2030. The country is planning to divert 75% of waste from landfills by adopting ‘Waste-to-Value’ methods. The municipalities have taken initiatives like opening new recycling stations, GPS tracking systems, Smart Gate and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Already, these latest solutions have substantially reduced the volume of waste dumped at Dubai landfills from 11,500 tonnes per day in 2010 to 7,500 tonnes currently. The Dubai Municipality is also building an AED 2-billion facility to turn solid waste into energy in Warsan district. Similarly, Abu Dhabi’s Tadweer is installing hi-tech smart trash bins to ensure scientific disposal of the waste. These are key measures considering that these cities will be the hub of activities during the Dubai Expo 2020.
Qatar — which will host the FIFA 2022 — is also boosting its waste management programmes in a big way. Oman is planning to set up 13 engineered landfills and 36 waste transfer stations across the nation. Saudi Arabia — set to generate 25,000 tonnes of solid waste every day by 2020 — has launched a slew of recycling efforts.
Governments across the region are getting serious and wary about waste management. They are giving impetus to public-private partnerships in tacking the trash. The waste management sector is witnessing a lot of investment by private companies. They are joining hands with the public companies to make waste
collection, its transportation, treatment and disposal as well as recycling technology more sustainable and eco-friendly. The Middle East Cleaning Technology Week (MECTW), starting today, is an ideal platform to bring players in the sector and other stakeholders together to find out more innovative ways to manage new type of electronic and hospital wastes as well as the municipal and construction waste. And even as we put in our efforts to apply new techniques to manage the waste sustainably, there is crying need to make the world aware about its reduction at source. Less waste generation will cut economic costs.