AL AIN // The city's first facility for the recycling of waste material left over from construction and demolition work opened yesterday.
The recycling plant is capable of processing 2,000 tonnes of construction debris per day, turning that into usable materials such as the base used in road construction.
It is located by a new incinerator that aims to safely burn animal carcasses from farms in Sanayaa, a 40-minute drive from the centre of Al Ain. The dual facilities cost Dh82 million.
The plant is part of an ongoing effort to divert material from the emirate's landfill, said Majid al Mansouri, the managing director of the Centre for Waste Management - Abu Dhabi and chairman of the Department of Municipal Affairs.
The Centre for Waste Management opened a similar facility, capable of recycling construction and demolition waste, in Abu Dhabi last year.
The emirate of Abu Dhabi generates 4.7 million metric tonnes of waste per year, with construction and demolition activities the largest waste generators.
The emirate's landfills, which are already spread across 18 square kilometres, are projected to increase in size significantly if nothing is done to address the problem.
"This is part of our recycling strategy," Mr al Mansouri said. "Our plan is to only send 10 per cent of wastes to landfill, the rest will be recycled and reused."
Construction debris consists of large amounts of concrete, which can be crushed again into particles of varying size, depending on the use.
Re-using concrete in this way means less rocks need to be quarried from the mountains in Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah.
Although it has just opened, the recycling plant is already operating close to its full capacity, said SB Guru, the project manager at Star International Waste Management, which built the plant and operates it on behalf of the centre.
The plant can take concrete and mixed waste, which consists of concrete that is usually mixed with steel, plastics and wood. The mixed waste is processed through magnetic separators to remove the steel, then filtered and manually sorted to clear out any remaining debris.
Once the concrete has been cleared of impurities, it is crushed into several different sizes.
The end product is then sent for laboratory testing to make sure it meets technical requirements before it can be sold commercially, said Mr Guru.
He hopes the plant will have generated enough material to attract its first customers by the end of next month.
The recycling plant was opened in conjunction with a new incinerator, which the operators claim can safely burn animal carcasses from farms and other agricultural establishments.
The incinerator is capable of processing 1,200kg per hour.
Star International Waste Management is also in charge of operating Al Ain's landfill, collecting its medical waste and taking over its medical waste incinerator, which has been in operation since 2008.
Several other large waste-related projects will also move forward in the coming weeks, said Mr al Mansouri. After a delay of nearly two years, a previously announced plant to recycle used car tyres will be built in Al Ain by July, he said.
A new medical waste incinerator, specifically tasked with disposing of potentially dangerous waste, is planned in Abu Dhabi.
"We are now in contractual discussions," Mr al Mansouri said. "We should be signing the contract within one week."
Paolo Arribere, who manages Al Ain's medical waste incinerator, said one important consideration lay in managing the emissions. These include nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide, the same polluting gases that are released from car engines, as well as more dangerous substances such as heavy metals and dioxins.
"More than 60 per cent of the plant is made for treating these gases," he said.
At the Al Ain facility, the dangerous gases are cooled, treated with chemicals and filtered before they are released, Mr Arribere said.
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
360Vuz PROFILE
Date started: January 2017
Founder: Khaled Zaatarah
Based: Dubai and Los Angeles
Sector: Technology
Size: 21 employees
Funding: $7 million
Investors: Shorooq Partners, KBW Ventures, Vision Ventures, Hala Ventures, 500Startups, Plug and Play, Magnus Olsson, Samih Toukan, Jonathan Labin
Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
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Satya Nadella
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