Dubai Municipality launches waste collection, recycling drive

School children get recycling tips as Lootah and other officials look on after the launch of the Dubai Environmental Culture project at the Dubai Municipality headquarters on Wednesday.

Dubai's door-to-door waste collection and recycling programme "My City ... My Environment" will be extended to 22 areas covering 26,000 houses by the end of the year.
The Dubai Municipality has also launched the "Dubai Environmental Culture" project under the programme to sensitise school children and the public about the need for waste segregation and recycling in a massive way.
Announcing the launch of the project at a Press conference on Wednesday, the Director-General of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Nasser Lootah, said it is aimed at reinforcing the knowledge and changing the culture of various segments of society in a manner consistent with the Dubai 2021 Plan to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city.
Assistant Director-General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Services Sector Salah Amiri said the major challenge encountered by the My City ... My Environment programme launched in 2012 was the development of a culture among the targeted groups.
Artistic works featuring waste will be taken around malls, parks and exhibitions in Dubai and school students will receive lessons in waste segregation and recycling. They will also earn green points for waste segregation as part of the new project.
The Director of the Waste Management Department, Abdul Majeed Al Saifaie, told Khaleej Times that the next stage of the door-to-door waste collection programme in partnership with the private sector will cover an area of 100 kilometres by the end of the year.
"We started with three neighbourhoods and increased to 12. We are signing agreements for six more areas next month and by the end of this year, 22 areas covering 26,000 houses will be included in the programme."
He said the rate of recycling in Dubai doubled from eight per cent to 16 per cent in two years after the programme was launched. The municipality currently has three recycling facilities.
Sari Al Sadi, project director for "Dubai Environmental Culture" said the awareness campaign will focus on field visits to residential neighbourhoods and schools for encouraging residents and children to do waste segregation and recycling.
"We will use art works like mega cubes featuring waste materials to attract people's attention in malls, parks and exhibition. It will help them know how much of waste they are generating and also give them a chance to know how they can contribute to the economy by recycling their waste."
Workshops will be conducted in schools to demonstrate various methods of recycling that students can do. Select classes will be provided with boxes and cubes for recycling papers and aluminum cans.
Champions of segregation will be given points, which will earn them the chance to benefit from environmental or humanitarian projects. The plan is to turn the point system into "green accounts" that will give special privileges to children championing the cause of the initiative. A website www.mycitymyenvironment.ae and custom-made iPad applications will also be used to support the environmental awareness programmes under the campaign.
sajila@khaleejtimes.com