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Waste recycling is central to Masdar's renewables' push

Abu Dhabi - Waste itself has become a business

The need for creating a sustainable city comes from all angles that focus on energy efficiency and consumption. For Masdar City, playing a role as the hub for clean energy, this has much to do with simply making use of every aspect of renewable resources, including the waste that is often binned away.

"The future of clean energy is here, and it is today," said Yousef Baselaib, executive director of Sustainable Real Estate, Masdar City.

Baselaib told Khaleej Times that when the initiative of Masdar, also known as the 'Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company,' was first launched in 2006 by the Government of Abu Dhabi, it illustrated how the UAE was already thinking of the future ahead. "The importance of this is that our leadership is thinking of the future, which is a future of renewable energy."

Baselaib recalled the words of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who highlighted the nation's strategy to move the UAE's economy beyond oil in 2015. "In 50 years, when we ship off the last barrel of petrol, we will not be sad. I promise you, my brothers and sisters, we will be celebrating."

Baselaib added: "Innovation is part of the vision of the leadership and today the UAE is not only exporting oil, but it is also exporting knowledge, so education and development are vital." He stressed that focusing on innovation and renewable resources is thus key when it comes to looking ahead, which is why the organisation even makes use of waste.
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"Today, we consume 40 per cent less power than any other building outside Masdar city, and this has been proven. In the last 10 years, we have done a lot of monitoring and data collecting. This is not only about the power consumption, but also the water and waste."

He noted that the waste itself has become a business. "We are using our construction waste to build, so we don't throw it, we can use it again. You can say we are a 99 per cent 'zero waste city,' because we use the construction waste again and again. Baselaib pointed out that Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week certainly help reach masses that simply care about where earth is heading.

jasmine@khaleejtimes.com