Dubai’s business parks hail rides of a different kind to help rid the city of a tonne of e-waste

Almost a tonne of electronic waste was collected by Uber drivers as part of a joint initiative between Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Science Park.

The three free zones encouraged people to recycle equipment such as radios, televisions and music players.

The 161 items were collected on June 20 and June 21.

Business partners and community members booked rides via the Uber app using the request “UberRecycle”.

Uber drivers then collected the e-waste from the business parks and delivered the items to Averda, which was responsible for the recycling and waste management.

Arwan Janahi, managing director of Dubai Science Park, said: “In today’s world, recycling and waste management play an extremely important role in the global environment conservation and sustainability drive.

“As a key contributor to Dubai’s vision of becoming a global green leader, Dubai Science Park is committed to providing the infrastructure and support services needed to translate this ambition into reality.”

Dubai Internet City’s executive director, Ammar Al Malik, said: “It is our duty to raise awareness of the significance of recycling and its positive impact on our society.”

One of Dubai Media City’s key goals is to “create a sustainable and innovation-focused environment where people can live, work and play in harmony for generations to come”, said its managing director, Majed Al Suwaidi.

“We are delighted to join this year’s e-waste collection drive that contributes to the UAE’s transition to a green economy.” According to The Global E-waste Monitor 2017 report, experts foresee the global volume of e-waste rising to 52.2 million tonnes in 2021 – up from 44.7 million tonnes in 2016.

This means e-waste is the fastest-growing component of the world’s domestic waste stream.