HOW TO UP YOUR RECYCLING GAME IN THE EMIRATES
▶ Sarah Maisey rounds up the projects and companies that help the public to dispose of waste responsibly
It’s become easier than ever to get involved with recycling efforts in the UAE, where companies and government initiatives can help to reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill, helping us recycle everything from household scraps to fridges.
Aluminium drinks cans are a perfect place to start, because these can be endlessly recycled without compromising quality. Annually, 2 per cent of the world’s energy consumption is used to make aluminium, with 180 billion drinks cans made every year.
In the UAE, we get through about 500 million cans annually, with 93 per cent of these going to landfill. Like glass, aluminium can be recycled indefinitely, so not only can a can be melted down to make a new one, but doing so requires only 5 per cent of the energy needed to make the original.
Recapp is one company that offers recycling centres in the UAE for cans and plastic bottles. It offers a two-tier service – for households and businesses. It is free of charge for families and individuals and the company has an app that can be used to book collections of plastic and cans ready to be recycled.
These must be washed, flattened and sorted from other household waste. Each kilogram of recycling earns points, with 10kg giving users 1,200 points, which can be redeemed at Carrefour, The Giving Movement and Noon.
The company also provides a map showing additional recycling drop-off points.
Companies, meanwhile, can buy recycling collection boxes – to fill with paper and drinks cans – which will be collected when hey become full, or they can opt to sign up to a monthly collection service.
To date, Recapp has more than 15,000 users and has collected 150 tonnes of used plastic and cans.
On a smaller scale is Washmen, the home pick-up laundry service that also collects paper and plastic for recycling free of charge. Simply put recyclables into a bag or box, add a recycling sticker (supplied by the company) and book a collection through the app.
The initiatives are important because plastics that are not recycles can end up in the world’s oceans.
Old fridges and air conditioning units are not only bulky, but can contain potentially dangerous refrigerants gases, which require expert handling. Enviroserve in Dubai specialises in dealing with electrical and IT waste, including old white goods. Home pick-ups for its Green Truck service can be booked over the phone.
Planet Green is another specialist company that collects, sorts and recycles hazardous items including aerosol cans and e-waste including kettles, ovens and computers. As well as safely recycling aerosols, it will also dismantle e-waste to retrieve any reusable materials. For companies looking to offload excess stock, Planet Green can take these and sort and recycle them as required.
For smaller household electrical waste, the UAE introduced a rule in 2021 that makes it mandatory for retailers of such goods to provide in-store collection boxes for batteries and devices.
Also, companies such as Apple and Samsung are increasingly offering buy back schemes for old mobile handsets, in the form of discounts against a new product. Also, as part of these initatives, phones are taken apart so the lithium, copper, cobalt, manganese and tungsten inside can be reclaimed.
In the UAE, there are plans to introduce colour-coded recycling boxes to households, allowing for kerbside recycling. Sharjah already offers such a service with four boxes for every household. Green boxes are for paper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastic, while food and organic waste is put in a brown box. General waste goes into a black box, while red boxes are for hazardous material, including aerosol cans and paint cans.
The UAE’s population uses more than four billion plastic bottles a year. To help tackle the waste, the company DGrade is dedicated to collecting and repurposing plastic water bottles, turning them into clothing and running recycling initiatives with businesses and schools.
For an easy way to use what you already have, there are
numerous free water refill sites across Dubai that anyone can use, instead of buying a new bottle of water. The Dubai Can Initiative, launched in February last year by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, has installed water fountains in various locations across the city, to encourage people to carry refillable bottles.
Companies such as Flowater and Water Club sell tap water filtration systems that remove micro plastics and bacteria.
Last year, the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi installed “Big Zero” sculptures around the capital. These art installations act as collection points for the public to deposit single-use plastic bottles for recycling and are part of the emirate’s wider Mission to Zero programme designed to eliminate single use plastic.
Abu Dhabi also introduced a ban on plastic bags last year. This ban is set to be extended next year, when single-use styrofoam cups, plates and food containers will also be banned.
For those wondering where the materials they recycle go,
In the UAE, we get through about 500 million aluminium cans annually, with 93 per cent going to landfill
there are plans for 12,000 tonnes a year of polyethylene terephthalate plastics to be diverted to a mammoth recycling plant in Abu Dhabi. The emirate’s Waste Management Centre, Tadweer, already has 26 sites across the emirate to process household waste.
It has also joined forces with StartAD – an initiative by New York University Abu Dhabi and local company Tamkeen – to create a “Smart Bin” service that aims to sort waste and let customers know how much carbon is being saved with each item recycled.