The trend of treating waste as a resource in Dubai

Seeing waste as a resource is trending in many countries around the world. Accordingly, waste can completely become a source of benefits for life.

Garbage is no longer a burden, an irritation, but can completely become a source of benefits for life. The increasing emphasis on waste segregation, along with improved recycling processes, has brought new awareness about waste.

During a routine inspection of the wastewater treatment system at Al Nahda Park (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), what was pulled up was a source of clean, odorless water, like any other source. any drinking water. However, this is wastewater from a nearby toilet. After treatment, the wastewater of the toilet is now opened to a new life cycle.

Ms. Meriem Bestani, director of AquaBioStep recycling company in Dubai, said: "What we do is bury a system of filters like this in the ground. With a special design, these filters can form a house. home for beneficial bacteria, capable of destroying toxins. After recycling, wastewater is filtered to 96%, very high quality."

"One person's waste is another's inheritance" is a philosophy pursued by companies like Dgrade. Discarded plastic bottles are collected, cleaned and shredded by the company to create yarn. Since then, more than 200 different fabrics have been created, opening a fashion industry out of plastic waste.

"One person's trash is another's inheritance"

Emma Barber, Dgrade Plastic Garbage Fashion Company in Dubai, said: "There are about 4 billion plastic bottles thrown away each year in this region. Of that, we estimate we can recycle up to 1 billion bottles a year. More and more businesses come to us, ordering everything from chef uniforms to clothes for Formula 1 racers."

Population growth makes waste, especially non-biodegradable waste, a burden on almost every society. Turning waste into a resource thus opens up not only a promising path, but also an indispensable direction for the development of societies in the future.

Over the past decade or so, the amount of trash and waste in Dubai has increased tenfold, but at the same time a circular economy has been promoted. Even used cooking oil can now be processed and turned into gasoline for engines.

Mr. Karl W Feilder, a company at Neutral Fields in Duba, said: "Electricities that run on recycled oil from cooking oil produce half as much emissions as conventional gasoline. At current gasoline prices, recycled oil is recycled. "Ours is even more competitive. We are now selling out every drop of oil we produce."

Dubai aims to become a zero-waste land by 2030, which means that all types of waste from daily life to production, solid waste, or liquid waste will be recycled, treated, thereby give waste a second, even third, fourth life cycle.