The UAE is planning to burn around two-thirds of its trash to build waste incinerators for dealing with the problem of waste.
According to Bloomberg, one of the largest waste-to-energy facilities in the world is being built in Dubai of worth $1.1 billion, a smaller one in Sharjah and this will start operating this year. Also, two more projects are being built in Abu Dhabi.
UAE plans to become carbon neutral by 2050 and burning trash will cause carbon emissions for which achieving the country’s goal will become difficult.
Sharjah’s waste company, Bee’ah, is trying to lessen the effect by creating green spaces by installing a 120-MW solar array on top of the plant and produce hydrogen from the garbage to fuel its rubbish trucks. This way, Sharjah can close its landfill site. The CEO of the company, CEO Khaled Al Huraimel said he wants to export the model across the region, including Saudi Arabia.
Reusing plastics and other waste is quite challenging while environmentalists favor recycling rather than burning trash.
John Ord, a UK business director at engineering firm Stantec, “China’s recent ban on the importation of waste has really changed the economic drivers. All of a sudden, we have a lot of waste that needs to be dealt with.”
