ABU DHABI // The UAE was the second-largest generator of household waste in the Gulf last year, much of it recyclable materials, a report to be made public today reveals.
The document, Waste Management in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: An Overview, will be distributed today at the opening of the Middle East Waste Summit 2010, which runs in Dubai until Thursday.
GCC countries generated more than 22.2 million tonnes of household waste in 2009, with 4.9 million tonnes - or 22 per cent of the total - coming from the UAE. More than half of the waste, 58 per cent, was generated in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, a large portion of waste generated in the GCC consists of recyclable elements - plastic, glass, metal and paper - and organic material that could have been composted.
The paper, which was prepared by the consultancy Frost & Sullivan, reports that part of the waste can be explained by rapid economic expansion in the region, pegged at seven per cent per year from 2002 through 2007.
"One of the unintended impacts of this fast-paced growth is an equally sharp increase in the volume of waste generated," it said. "Today, the GCC countries rank even higher than many of the developed countries in terms of per capita waste generation."
Sam Patel, an event director for the summit's organiser, Turret Middle East, said the large volumes of waste and a lack of recycling put pressure on the region's dumps. "Landfill sites in the UAE are filling up fast," he said. "It is not just Dubai or the UAE that has an issue with waste, it is the whole Arab region."
Delegates to the event will hear from more than 50 speakers on how governments elsewhere have been able to deal with waste issues. Also speaking will be representatives of Masdar, the world's first carbon neutral city, being built on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
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