New facility in Abu Dhabi speeds up waste disposal

A new operations facility for waste management in Abu Dhabi has helped speed up waste disposal in the city and its outskirts. The new facility in Musaffah has helped recycle thousands of litres of water at its truck-washing station over the past three weeks, besides improving waste disposal operations, a spokesperson for Averda International, the waste management company that operates the facility, told Gulf News yesterday. The facility has several eco-friendly systems including the truck-washing station which recycles 60 per cent of the water it uses for washing about 200 trucks daily, the company spokesperson said. Averda is one of the companies that have been assigned the responsibility of managing wastes in the emirate by the Centre of Waste Management — Abu Dhabi (CWM). Hamad Al Ameri, general manager of CWM, and Maysarah Sukkar, chairman of Averda, inaugurated the 27,000-square-metre operations facility in Musaffah earlier this month. Al Ameri said the centre was confident it would achieve Abu Dhabi's 2030 vision to make the UAE capital a more environmentally conscious city. Range of services Sukkar said Averda was working with CWM to help the UAE leadership achieve their vision of making Abu Dhabi one of the world's five cleanest cities within the next few years. The company spokesperson said an electronic weighing system in the new facility has also helped speed up the weighing of wastes. The new operations facility in Musaffah houses Averda's entire Abu Dhabi fleet, offering 24-hour operations. Located in the facility is Averda's full range of environmental solutions, including an operations depot with parking, dispatch, fleet maintenance workshop and warehouse facilities, as well as offices for Averda's management, commercial, operations, support and back office functions. Averda International was awarded the five-year contract through CWM in the middle of this year. It is a prominent environmental solutions provider in the Middle East and North Africa, specialising in integrated waste and resource management services. It operates in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UK, France, Morocco and Iraq. Zero waste at landfills Abu Dhabi generates more than 10 million tonnes of municipal wastes annually, according to the Centre of Waste Management - Abu Dhabi (CWM). The emirate generates 33,000 tonnes of wastes per day. Per capita waste generation is 1.8 to 2kg per day. Since the emirate has already lost 1,800 hectares of land to landfills, the centre aims to dump zero waste in landfills in the future. It aims to divert 90 per cent of the waste from landfills by 2018. The centre expects 25 per cent reduction in waste generation by next year — thanks to the initiatives under the Nadafa Programme. It is a comprehensive programme to minimise waste generation and promote sustainable waste management practices. A tariff regime for the businesses under this initiative drives home the message "Generate less waste and pay less fee!" CWM was established in January 2008 as the lead agency responsible for controlling and coordinating waste management operations throughout Abu Dhabi.