Dubai's biggest landfill becomes venue for special Eid lunch

The smell of garbage was replaced with the aroma of biryani with about 400 people feasting at the most unlikely lunch venue, Dubai’s biggest landfill.

Workers receive lunch packs from an official of Green Energy Solutions and Sustainability at Sonapur. —Supplied photo

The landfill in Al Qusais became the venue for a special Eid lunch for hundreds of workers from the site and the neighbouring labour accommodations in Sonapur on Monday. Hundreds of trucks daily dump over 4,000 tonnes of waste in the landfill which receives more than 60 per cent of the waste generated in the emirate.

Contrary to what one would expect, the landfill - spread over an area of about 3.5 square kilometres - is no more an eyesore and stinky dump yard, thanks to an eco-friendly initiative that has changed the look and, of course, the smell of the waste disposal site.

The landfill gas recovery plant at the site has changed the way the site was operating till last year. The gas collection system implemented by Green Energy Solutions and Sustainability for Dubai Municipality recovers methane emitted from organic waste to be converted into electricity by flaring the gas. The plant, the first of its kind in the region, can reduce 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

The system collects landfill gas through an intricately laid network of horizontal and vertical pipes, of over 20 kilometres of piping in the landfill site. Horizontal and vertical gas wells were drilled several metres deep into the waste to suck the landfill gas. This has now helped manage odours, reduce health risks, fire and adverse environmental impacts.

Green Energy Solutions and Sustainability Business Development Director and Project Manager Anita Nouri said the reduction of landfill gas from the landfill was equivalent to taking 60,000 cars off the road.

“A lot of workers from different companies are supporting us in this eco-friendly initiative. Also, our aim is to achieve the goal of the Dubai Municipality in making the site healthier, more environment-friendly and sustainable. So, we decided to appreciate those workers and also help those living nearby to see for themselves the changes at the site.”

What started off as a plan to provide lunch for about 100 workers, finally turned out to be a bigger charity event attended by almost 400 workers, Nouri said. Most of the workers were from the nearby labour accommodations and heard about the free Eid lunch through workers from the site.

Abdul Sathar, a 25-year-old Pakistani who has been working for five years at a scrap collection company next to the landfill, said he was very happy about the experience. “This is a whole new place now. There is no bad smell and we don’t feel like we are standing in a waste disposal site. I’m very happy that my cousins and I got free lunch from here today.” -sajila@khaleejtimes.com