Efforts in waste management in the UAE include converting waste to energy, treating wastewater, controlling the movement of hazardous waste, protecting the marine and coastal environment from sea dumping and reducing plastic waste.
Due to population growth and economic activities, the quantities of wastes in the UAE have increased in the last decade. Most of the waste ends up in municipal landfills or dumpsites, where organic waste generates a large amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Currently, little of the waste is burnt and the rate of municipal waste recycling has been rapidly rising.
Waste management in the country is coordinated through local authorities. Waste issues are handled through recycling and converting waste to energy and resources, new technologies and improved waste separation and collection systems. The UAE aims to reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.
The UAE issued Cabinet Resolution No. (39) regarding the executive regulations of Federal Resolution No. (12) of 2018 on the integrated waste management that seeks to regulate the waste management process and standardize the mechanisms and methods of proper waste disposal in line with best practices with the aim of protecting the environment and reducing risks to human health.
Waste management in Abu Dhabi
The Government of Abu Dhabi established Tadweer in 2008. The company is responsible for the policy, strategy and contractual systems of waste management across the emirate.
Waste management in Dubai
Dubai Municipality's Waste Management Department prepared the Dubai Integrated Waste Management Master Plan in 2012 with an aim to reduce the amount of waste being sent to the landfills to zero in 20 years by using an integrated and innovative approach.
Dubai Municipality established the largest plant in the Middle East to convert solid waste into energy at a cost of AED 2 billion in the Warsan district.
Dubai Municipality, in co-ordination with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, conducted studies to achieve the strategy of Dubai for Clean Energy, to produce 7 per cent of Dubai's total energy from clean energy sources.
Waste management in Sharjah
The emirate of Sharjah set up a municipal waste management company Bee'ah (the Arabic word for environment) in 2007 in the form of a public-private partnership.
In October 2011, Sharjah announced an ambitious plan for 100 per cent landfill diversion by 2015. To attain this goal, Bee'ah developed a state-of-the-art waste management centre to process and recycle waste.
In 2012, the company introduced two-stream waste collection and a new tipping fee structure to incentivise waste reduction and to closely regulate landfill contents. Improved blue and green coloured, odour-proof bins have been deployed across the emirate.
Read about waste to energy projects.
Hazardous waste is defined as the waste or ashes resulting from different operations and activities that involve hazardous material, as mentioned in the Federal Law No. 24 of 1999 on the Protection and Development of the Environment.
The UAE has been a member state of the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (PDF) since 1990. The UAE's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment issued a ministerial decision regarding the organisation of the passage and export of hazardous waste consignments across the UAE's borders. The ban includes the movement of hazardous waste by sea, land or air within the country without written permission from the ministry, which is in line with Basel Convention mentioned above.
Dumping waste in the sea raises environmental concerns which is life-threatening on the marine ecosystem in the region. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, in collaboration with its partners in the public and private sectors, continues to work towards greater protection of the marine and coastal environment and the preservation of its vital role through implementing the principles of the integrated management of the marine and coastal environment.
The UAE has enacted laws banning throwing waste and oil sludge into the water by the hundreds of tankers operating in the region.
The UAE Federal Law No. 24 of 1999 on the Protection and Development of the Environment prohibits the following:
In addition, Federal Law No. 23 of 1999 and its Ministerial Decree No. 302 of 2001 (PDF, 450KB), were issued to address exploitation, conservation and development of living aquatic resources in the UAE.
Learn how the UAE conserves and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Useful links
The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) announced a policy to reduce the amount of single use plastic material in Abu Dhabi (PDF) and mitigate its harmful effects.
The policy aims to keep plastics out of the environment and eliminate the use of avoidable single-use plastic materials by 2021 through fostering a culture of recycling and re-use and encouraging more sustainable practices in the community.
Through the new policy, the EAD will make Abu Dhabi free of single-use plastic bags by 2021.
Related links
The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi Announces Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags from June 2022
Dubai to limit single-use bags
Dubai Government will impose a tariff of 25 fils on single-use bags used for carrying goods, starting from 1 July 2022. The policy will be evaluated over several stages until single-use carrier bags are completely banned within a span of two years, following the assessment of behavioural changes in the community.
The introduction of the policy to limit and ultimately ban single-use bags is aimed at strengthening Dubai’s sustainability objectives in line with global best practices for reducing the consumption of single-use bags. The step supports the adoption of a green, low carbon economy in alignment with the Dubai Waste Management Strategy 2041 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals announced by the United Nations for 2030.
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