RAK introduces kerbside recycling scheme
Starting Wednesday, residents will separate recyclables from wet organic waste
Ras Al Khaimah will reach a major environmental milestone on Wednesday when the emirate rolls out a new recycling programme to divert 75 per cent of its waste away from landfills by 2021.
Kerbside recycling is coming to homes, schools and businesses across the emirate to stem waste streams of garbage clogging up landfill sites as prescribed by UAE Vision 2021 goals, officials said yesterday.
The new RAK Recycles initiative will begin separation at the source of recyclables, said Ras Al Khaimah Waste Management Agency (RAKWMA).
The new programme “will transform the way the Ras Al Khaimah community manages its waste,” the agency said in a statement, noting that only 7 per cent of municipal solid waste was recycled in the emirate last year.
Colour codes
Starting Wednesday, residents will separate recyclables from wet organic waste using specially marked garbage bags that will be colour coded green and brown to differentiate recyclable materials for pickup by waste crews.
The new bags will be made in Ras Al Khaimah and will be offered free to all users.
Traditional black garbage bags will continue to be used for traditional wet organic waste.
His Highness Shaikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, said in a statement that it is time to welcome the future with ecologically sustainable ways.
“It is with great pride that I support the introduction of the RAK Recycles initiative in Ras Al Khaimah. I encourage all those in Ras Al Khaimah to think about the sustainable lives we led in the past and to start living for a more sustainable future,” said Shaikh Saud.
“By using this new system, Ras Al Khaimah residents are also showing that they care deeply about a sustainable future.
Together we can make our emirate clean and green now and for future generations,” he said.
Sonia Nasser, Executive Director of RAKWMA said: “Our main objective is to significantly improve the Ras Al Khaimah community’s commitment to sustainability and environmental protection from a grass-roots level” she said in a statement.
The trial areas for the first phase of the programme include the residential communities of Al Dhait, Rams and the Southern region. Small businesses will also participate in the first phase, while schools will be brought into the recycling fold at a later time.