One Year On, The UAE’s First Two-Stream Waste Collection Sees Success with Dedicated Blue & Green Bins Rolled-Out Across Residential Areas in Sharjah to Encourage Recycling
Almost one year after the UAE’s first residential recycling programme was launched in Sharjah, recycling levels have increased by 52% compared to figures last year, with an outreach campaign aiming to increase the rates even further.
According to Bee’ah – the Middle East’s leading integrated and award winning environmental and waste management company and the first to bring residential recycling to the UAE – the domestic recycling rate in Sharjah has increased from 9,909 tonnes in the year 2011 to over 15,000 tonnes in 2012 – the same year the residential recycling programme was rolled out. The biggest contributor to this increase has been plastic recycling - including PET and mixed plastic, with a 35% increase from 2011 to 2012, second is paper and cardboard recycling with a 20% increase, followed by a 19% increase in aluminum recycling over the same period.
Bee’ah says that since the launch of the Residential Recycling Programme in February 2012, over 2,240 residential villas and low-rise buildings have received the dual-coloured blue and green bins, for the separation of recyclables and general waste respectively, covering over 45% of Sharjah city’s population.
“The improvement in recycling rates is testament to how sustainable behaviours can be motivated through education and awareness,” said H.E. Salim Al Owais, Chairman of Bee’ah. “Considering that recycling is still new to the region, we are seeing more and more people joining in and making huge efforts to recycle. We have our partners to thank for this success - the residents, local authorities and businesses across Sharjah, who have contributed significantly in increasing recycling across the emirate to create a cleaner environment.”
Bee’ah has currently over 9,000 recycling points in Sharjah and Ajman, including the new residential recycling bins, the three-stream recyclers, desk side blue bins, recycling depots for bulky recyclables, recycling bins in schools as well as reverse vending machines which accept plastic bottles and aluminum cans for loyalty points. The organisation is working to put out more recycling initiatives for residents and together with its comprehensive awareness programme, which includes informative flyers on how to recycle, as well as blue and green bin bag liners to prepare households to separate their waste. The company is also in the process of creating dedicated TV commercials to get the message across to an even wider audience.
In October this year, Bee’ah launched its recycling strategy and updated action plan to tackle the waste problem in the Emirate of Sharjah, using various initiatives and technologies to process the different types of waste generated. The promotion of waste reduction and recycling is one of the core elements of its waste management strategy.
“Our target for the Emirate of Sharjah is to achieve zero-waste to landfill by 2015, and so we have invested in expanding our collection and waste management operations and improving our systems to increase recycling and waste diversion rates. These include new facilities for waste processing, widespread clean-up operations by Tandeef, and more recycling bins to encourage residents to incorporate the 3Rs (reduce, re-use and recycle) into their lifestyle.” said Khaled Al Huraimel, CEO of Bee’ah. “Additionally, the Bee’ah School of Environment, an initiative supported by the Sharjah Education Zone, has been an astounding success and aims to educate children about being environmentally conscious from a very early age.”
To further enhance public awareness and raise the municipal solid waste recovery rate to 100% by 2015, Bee’ah says that it will continue to work with other government entities, private sector organisations, as well as schools and NGO’s to develop a wider recycling network at the community level to encourage and facilitate the collection of recyclables in the community.
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