Abu Dhabi to build state-of-the-art plastic recycling plant

The high-tech facility will salvage 14,000 tonnes of plastic a year from household waste

Abu Dhabi’s recycling station at Khalidiya. The emirate is trying to encourage more people to go green. Victor Besa / The National 

A state-of-the-art recycling factory is to be built in Abu Dhabi.

An opening date was not revealed but it is envisaged the plant will have advanced sorting and washing lines to process food grade plastic – known as polyethylene terephthalate.

The recycled plastic will then be used for food and beverage packaging.

The facility will salvage 14,000 tonnes of plastic a year from household waste, Abu Dhabi Media Office said on Wednesday.

The plant also aims to help promote the circular economy – a new way of thinking that promotes reuse, repair and recycling.

A World Economic Forum report said the circular economy could generate 100,000 new jobs within five years.

The announcement comes as Abu Dhabi ramps up recycling facilities to achieve its aim of diverting 75 per cent of waste from landfill by 2021.

New recycling depots were built across the emirate to encourage people to go green.

Despite efforts to encourage recycling, statistics revealed to The National by Tadweer, Abu Dhabi's Waste Management Centre, showed a significant rise in the amount of waste in the city over the past three years. Little more than a third of that waste is recycled each year.

Tadweer called on all sectors of UAE society to co-operate to reduce the amount of rubbish it produces if the country’s environment is to be preserved.

The new plant, meanwhile, will be established through a partnership between Alliances for Global Sustainability, an Abu Dhabi sustainability company, and Veolia, a waste, water and energy services entity with support from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Tadweer and Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi.