Dubai: New sustainable waste management project in Hatta to divert waste from landfills

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A new sustainable waste management project has been launched in Hatta to divert waste from landfills.

The project, titled ‘Outsourcing Waste Collection, Transportation, and Recycling Services’, is taking place in collaboration with Imdaad.

As part of the programme, Dubai Municipality has transformed the Hatta landfill into an advanced facility from where segregated waste can be transferred to treatment sites in Dubai.

The facility, spanning more than 60,000 square metres, comprises an administrative office and a waste disposal zone. Around 20 tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated on average daily in Hatta. Additionally, the project will also take care of 27 tonnes of agricultural waste from across the region daily, ensuring it is sent out in a suitable form to the Warsan waste-to-energy plant.

The Hatta waste management project is expected to benefit a total of 1,147 homes. The municipality has distributed over 2,500 new waste storage and collection containers, each differentiated by its colour. Recyclable waste is to be disposed of in green containers, while non-recyclable waste goes into the black ones. These containers also feature illustrations and instructions to help with waste segregation and to raise public awareness about the significance of correctly segregating waste at source.

Since 2012, Dubai Municipality has successfully tapped the outsourcing strategy for the ‘Collection, Transport and Recycling of Waste’ service under the name ‘My City .. My Environment’ in 16 subregions of the emirate including Jumeirah (1, 2, 3), Al-Safa (1, 2), Umm Suqim (1, 2, 3), AlManarah, Umm Al Sheif, Al Barsha (2, 3), Al Mizhar (1, 2), Muhaisnah 1, and Nadd Al Hammar.

More than 18,000 homes have benefited from the project, and the municipality has added 36,400 residential storage containers to promote better waste management in these areas. The civic body has also deployed 65 multi-utility machines and 300 field workers, all of which contribute further to its goal of promoting a sustainable society.