Construction begins on $6.8 million recycling plant in Dubai

Advancing in line with their forecast of a strong market potential for waste management in the region, Dulsco has started construction works on the first phase of a 46,452 sqm recycling facility at Dubai Industrial Park.

The Dubai-based waste management company is expected to complete the construction in 2018. The $6.8 million project will include a fully automated waste sorting line with a capacity to sort through 5 tonnes of rubbish per hour.

Dulsco told the media that they will start work on the first phase of the project, which will also host a fleet maintenance workshop and a recycling and materials recovery plant.

"In the GCC region, population, growth and urbanisation have caused an alarming increase in the generation of waste. This calls for an urgent need to implement innovative methods to ensure the reduction and recycling of waste," Saud Abu Al Shawareb, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Industrial Park told in a statement.

The waste management facility will also ensure the efficient use of energy, water and other resources and prioritise the reduction of waste to the environment.

According to research firm Frost & Sullivan, the total amount of waste generated across the GCC is set to increase from 94 million tonnes in 2015 to as high as 120 million tonnes by 2020, spurred by increases across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In 2012, the Dubai Government had announced plans to reduce the percentage of rubbish being sent to landfill in the emirate to zero by 2030, down from about 80 or 90% at the time.

Last month Tadweer, the centre of waste management, which operates 8 recycling plants in Abu Dhabi said it planned to increase the amount of waste it recycles from about 30% of the 797,466 tonnes it processes each month to more than 60% by 2020 and 75% by 2021.