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DM, Zenath join hands to build medical waste treatment plant

DUBAI — Dubai Municipality (DM), and Zenath Group, the recycling and waste management arm of ETA Star Group, have signed an agreement to build UAE’s first vertical medical incinerator plant for safe treatment of medical waste.

The incinerator, which will be located in Jebel Ali close to the existing incinerator of the municipality, will have a treatment capacity of 20 tonnes per day and will become fully operational by late 2008.

Hussain Nasser Lootah, acting director-general of DM, said the management of medical waste is one of the challenging tasks that accompany the growth and development of a progressive metropolis. “Dubai is no exception as it is experiencing a steady increase in the quantity of medical waste due to population growth and the subsequent increase in the number of medical and healthcare facilities. These wastes require proper treatment, destruction and disposal,” he said.

Lootah noted that the civic body handled 1,188 tonnes of medical waste in 2006 compared to 579 tonnes in 2002. By 2017, this quantity is estimated to reach 4,030 tonnes, especially with the full-scale functioning of facilities like the Dubai Health Care City which will have nine hospitals with around 1,100 beds, in addition to some 300 healthcare operators by 2008. At present, all medical wastes generated in Dubai are treated and disposed of at the Jebel Ali Medical Waste Treatment Facility.

Since 2001, the facility has been using a medical waste incinerator with a capacity of 500 kg per hour. “The main objective of this project is to ensure a clean and healthy environment in the emirate by providing appropriate and state-of-the-art facilities for the treatment and disposal of medical waste. At Dubai Municipality, it has always been our policy to join hands with the private sector in serving the society better. We are pleased that the ETA Star Group has come forward to set up this facility,” said Lootah.

Elaborating on the significance of the agreement to environmental safety and public health in the UAE, Syed M. Salahuddin, chairman of ETA Star Group, said: “As a UAE-based corporate group, ETA Star has always been in the forefront of efforts to raise the level of environmental consciousness in the country. This is the first vertical incinerator being installed in the region and will go a long way in further improving hygiene and public health standards in Dubai.”

J.S.A. Bukhari, executive director of Zenath Group, pointed out that the contract was awarded after the group successfully met all the stringent quality standards laid down by DM. “Our parent company, ETA Star, has tied up with Mitsubishi Corporation and Plantec Corporation of Japan to obtain the vertical incineration technology, which has a reputation for greater efficiency and effective treatment of infectious waste,” he added.

Plantec Corporation devised the technology for treating such material through the use of vertical incinerators, which remained the best method of treatment of medical waste.

This technology was first incorporated in Japan and has been successfully used over the last 15 years. ETA is expecting more demand for similar incinerators from other emirates and is keen to promote this technology for the entire GCC.

DM had signed a similar agreement with Al Rostamani Group to set up a Dh65 million facility dedicated to recycling and recovery of the city’s construction and demolition waste, under the name Emirate Recycling LLC in March this year.