Abu Dhabi’s Tadweer processes more than 1,860,000 tonnes of waste in H1 2022

Tadweer successfully diverted 34 per cent of all waste in Abu Dhabi from landfills as well as 50 per cent of waste resulting from demolition and construction operations

Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) announced that it has processed more than 1,860,000 tonnes of waste, including 88,382 tonnes of medical and hazardous waste, and handled 50,000 pest control requests during the first half of 2022.

During the first half of 2022, Tadweer successfully diverted 34 per cent of all waste in Abu Dhabi away from landfills. It diverted 50 per cent of waste resulting from demolition and construction operations, 93 per cent of hazardous waste, 3 per cent of green waste, and 6 per cent of animal waste away from landfills.

During the first half of 2022, the centre signed many operational contracts for pest control services and reducing disease vector pests. In addition to adopting the electronic approvals system for no objection certificates (NOC) in Abu Dhabi, as well as organising awareness campaigns across the emirate.

According to the state news agency, WAM, Dr Salem Al Kaabi, acting DG of Tadweer, said: “The achievements realised during the first half of 2022 are a testament to the centre’s efficacy and its pivotal position in building a sustainable system for waste management and pest control in Abu Dhabi, in order to maintain Abu Dhabi’s cleanliness and aesthetics. This is in line with the strategic objectives of the centre to ensure value-added services are provided to the community.”

“The centre’s highly skilled teams will continue their efforts to find more solutions that realise sustainability by preserving natural resources, creating an aware society that contributes to reducing waste, and converting waste into an economic resource for the emirate, all in order to create a safe, healthy, and sustainable environment,” he added.

Waste treatment Tadweer treats and recycles all kinds of waste, with medical and hazardous waste being among the most crucial types of waste that the centre treats using the best standards and practices via its three centres in Abu Dhabi. This waste is incinerated at high temperatures that reach up to 1,200 Celsius.

Key highlights of H1 2022 at a glance

• Tadweer recycled around 29,000 tonnes of agricultural and animal waste in H1 2022. This helped to produce around 13,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser, in addition to producing around 1,200,000 tonnes of recycled gravel from demolition and construction waste in Abu Dhabi during the same time period.
• The overall amount of recyclable waste collected from recyclable collection centres during the first half of this year amounted to 39 tonnes of waste. Paper and cardboard materials, in addition to plastics, wood, clothing, expired medication, used batteries, metals, aluminium cans, and glassware, made up 67 per cent of this. Regarding pest control, the rate of infestations by disease vector pests dropped to 1.9 per cent, which is much lower than the minimum acceptable rate of 5 per cent. Mosquito infestations dropped to 1.4 per cent, as smart mosquito traps were increased to 640 traps across the emirate.
• The centre also received 50,000 requests for combating disease vector pests, nuisance pests, and stray animals, all of which were handled in accordance with the highest international standards and global practices.
• The Centre has detected around 1,095 cases of arbitrary dumping of solid waste, and 5248 cases of dumping sewage.
• Tadweer organised around 21 awareness campaigns in Abu Dhabi, including field visits to various educational establishments and government agencies, benefitting more than 14,000 people in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Al Dhafra.
• It adopted the electronic approvals system for NOC in Abu Dhabi for all requests that require technical review by experts for issuing approvals related to building and construction and infrastructure development projects.
• Tadweer announced the application of the internet of things (IoT) technology at the demolition and construction waste treatment station in Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi, a step that is the first of its kind in the Middle East.
• The centre signed four operational contracts valued at Dhs235m, which aim to provide value-added services to its clients and the community, and the proper and safe disposal of waste in line with approved standards and practices. The contracts were signed for managing, operating, maintaining, monitoring, and controlling supervised landfills in Al Ain city and Al Dhafra region, and managing, operating, maintaining, monitoring, and controlling the Hamim supervised landfill and the solid municipal waste and commercial and industrial waste transport station. In addition, Tadweer signed new operational contracts for pest control services in Al Ain city.

In March, Tadweer invited developers to submit their bids for developing a new engineered landfill for hazardous waste. The scope of the project involves designing and building an engineered landfill in line with the environmental standards and health and safety criteria, with a capacity of 4.5 million cubic metres, as well as operating the new landfill for one year and covering the cells of the new landfill once they reach their designated capacity.