Colour-coded waste bins must from Sept 4

The Waste Management Department at the municipality has issued a circular to all such establishments in this regard, Director of the Department Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al Sifai said in a statement. Al Sifai said the policy of clean production and separation of solid waste and its reuse are important in reducing waste and pollution.

“The waste sorting programmes in production sites and its recycling have a significant impact in reducing the amount of general waste transferred to the disposal sites,” the official noted.

Dubai generates about 10,000 tonnes of solid waste a day, one of the highest rates in the world. However, according to official figures, only one per cent of it gets recycled regularly. One of the hindrances is the issue of sorting at the source, which is largely ignored by waste generators. Separation of waste by users helps increase recycling as it prevents recyclable waste getting mixed with wet waste or waste that cannot be recycled.

Calling upon the bulk waste generators, who come under the purview of the new rule, to separate general waste in their sites and production sources, Al Sifai said waste containers using specifications approved in the technical guideline No 5 should be used to separate plastic, metal cans, glass, paper and wood wastes.

“Related parties can deal with any company licenced by the municipality as included in the Bulletin of June 2011. It also requires monthly reports on quantity and quality of sorted waste,” said Al Sifai. “The non-compliance with (the) mentioned directives in the circular may lead to the imposition of penalties as well as legal and administrative procedures,” he added.

Head of Technical Support and Studies Section at the department, Rashed Karkain, told Khaleej Times that the department had carried out a thorough Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) characterisation in 2010.

“The result revealed that there are about 19 per cent of paper, 23 per cent of plastic, 6 per cent of metals and more than 3 per cent of wood wastes arriving into Dubai’s landfills. These numbers prove further opportunities for segregation of recyclables in order to minimise landfilling. Most of these materials are originated from industrial and commercial establishments. Therefore this circular is intended for all such establishments, which includes commercial towers and shopping centres as well,” said Karkain. He said the approved colour-coding of recyclable materials is blue for papers, green for plastics, yellow for cans and red for glass.

“The success of this initiative is dependent on proper implementation of the circular with the coordination of waste generators and waste transporters, where either one of them or together, as per their contract, can provide the necessary bins on their premises.”

He added that the department was organising a workshop with all the stakeholders to further pave the way for effective and efficient implementation of the regulation.

—sajila@khaleejtimes.com