Dubai registers 163 percent growth in construction waste

With no let up in its building boom, construction and demolition waste generated in Dubai registered a record 163 percent growth last year over the previous year, WAM news agency reported Monday.

According to the annual report of Dubai municipality's Waste Management Department, a total of 27.7 million tones of construction waste were removed from various construction sites in the city in 2007. In 2006, it just 10.5 million tonnes.

The construction and demolition waste makes up 75 percent of the total solid waste generated in Dubai every year. Dubai municipality recycles some eight million tones of construction waste through a public-private joint venture initiated last year with the Al Rostamani Group. The plant is located in the Al Lusaily area of the city.

The volume of domestic solid waste generated in Dubai registers 163 percent growth in construction wasterose by 13.7 percent in 2007, as compared to 2006 with a total of 3.34 million tonnes.

The report said around 142,816 tones of agricultural waste were generated in Dubai last year, registering a 14 percent growth over the previous year. The total volume of liquid waste was 76,456 tonnes (mainly the drainage water carried from areas that are connected to the sewage network).

The report pointed out that Dubai municipality's endeavours to recycle various types of waste are yielding good results as the gap between the treated and non-treated waste is narrowing every year, even when the total volume of waste generated in the city is going up.

Last year, the municipality treated over 31 million tonnes of solid waste, 83 million gallons of liquid waste and 347 tonnes of hazardous waste.

Apart from the recycling plant for construction and demolition waste, the civic body has entered into several other joint ventures with groups like Tadweer, Zenath Group and Al Serkal Group to recycle domestic waste, medical waste and waste edible oil. These joint ventures are currently run on a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis.

Tadweer, which was opened in March 2006, treats a total of 4,000 tonnes of solid waste daily. Tadweer is one of the biggest investment projects in the region with an estimated cost of 500 million UAE dirhams (about $136 million).

Zenath Group, the recycling and waste management arm of ETA Star Group, is currently building UAE's largest and first vertical medical incinerator plant for safe treatment of medical waste. The incinerator, which will be located in Jebel Ali, close to the existing incinerator of the municipality, will have a treatment capacity of 20 tonnes per day and will be fully operational by the end of this year.

The project assumes significance, as Dubai Municipality handled 1,188 tonnes of medical waste in 2006, compared to the 579 tonnes in 2002.

By 2017, the total volume of medical waste is expected to reach 4,030 tonnes, mainly after the full-scale functioning of facilities such as the Dubai Health Care City, which will have nine hospitals, in addition to some 300 health care operators by the end of 2008.

At present, all medical wastes generated in Dubai are treated at the Jebel Ali Medical Waste Treatment Facility. Since 2001, the facility has been using a medical waste incinerator with a throughput capacity of 500 kg/hour.

Al Serkal Group's 10 million UAE dirhams waste treatment project in Al Awir is dedicated to recycling edible oil waste from hotels, restaurants and food processing factories.

The plant now has an optimum capacity to treat and process 50 cubic meters of grease and other wastes. In its second phase, the capacity will increase to 100 cubic meters.