Abu Dhabi: The current waste management facilities in Abu Dhabi will not be sufficient to cope with the expected waste increase over the next 25 years as they have reached their limit, revealed Tadweer, Abu Dhabi’s Centre of Waste Management as it unveiled the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Master Plan 2040 in the capital today. Unless immediate action was taken, the expected increase in waste would impact the environment and involve human costs, Tadweer warned.
“We have to take action today, not tomorrow, not next month,” said Eisa Saif Al Qubaisi, general manager, Tadweer.
The proposed master plan, which addresses the UAE’s waste reduction target of 85 per cent by 2021, was part of a brainstorming workshop attended by Tadweer’s strategic partners in environment and waste management, who are expected to contribute directly to the implementation of this project.
The plan has been put together in response to the emirate of Abu Dhabi’s development, growing population and expected growth, which have already had a serious impact on waste generation.
According to figures, around 12 million tonnes of waste was produced by the emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2013. Other statistics showed that the emirate’s population doubled in the last ten years, which has also doubled the amount of waste produced. Over the next 25 years, the population is expected to double again, and unless action is taken now, the waste output is also likely to double.
The master plan identified the challenges ahead, such as collection issues due to traffic and short working windows, misuse of Tadweer’s collection system, transportation issues of delays in accessing facilities due to restrictions on truck movements and treatment facilities with insufficient capacity and low or no technology, to name a few. It suggested possible solutions at industrial and societal levels, and the requirement for new regulations.
“This is the first of the many workshops,” said Al Qubaisi, urging stakeholders to cooperate and collaborate with his team in order to reach their goals. “We are not going to achieve this without you,” he said.
