The Dubai Municipality has developed a plan to turn waste into energy, as part of its initiative to cut divert all landfill waste by 2030.
In 2011, each resident of Dubai was producing 1,700kg of waste annually. That’s 4.65kg a day.
The cost is not only environmental. Dubai landfills cost Dh2.3 million to operate every day.
The new project, called Wastenizer, is overseen by the Dubai Future Foundation and proposed to transform solid waste into ‘good ash’ that can be used as concrete.
It is part of a larger strategy to divert the current 3.5 million tonnes of waste that get sent to the emirate’s landfills each year.
Implementation will begin in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the system should be operational in parts of the emirate by 2020, said a statement by the Dubai government.
The project is part of Dubai’s 10X initiative, launched at the World Government Summit, where the government invited proposals that could help fulfill its goal of being “10 years ahead” of other cities “in all sectors”.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Dubai Crown Prince, has approved 26 projects, shortlisted from a total of 160 ideas.
Ras Al Khaimah and Abu Dhabi have pledged to cut waste by 75 per cent by 2021
