September/October 2019

Countries around the globe continue to generate large amounts of waste as their populations grow and their economies expand. The well-being of any country is dependent upon how it handles the waste generated in the form of many different types of plastic, whether by recycling or landfilling.

The UAE, being one of the world’s fastest-growing countries and a very good example of success, is working towards a greener environment by investing in plastic recycling.

This is extremely critical because the UAE, as well as Saudi Arabia and all other Gulf Cooperation Council members, are among the largest consumers of plastic products, which eventually end up as waste.

As a result, the UAE government is working hard towards raising recycling awareness among the public to help ease the process of collecting/sorting/disposing.

As an example of the efforts being made, integrated environmental company Tadweer announced plans last year to recycle more than 60% of waste by 2020 and 75% by 2021, and said it would build eight recycling plants in Abu Dhabi to meet that goal. At the time, Tadweer was recycling more than 30% of the 797,466 tonnes of waste generated every month.

As regards market conditions at present, scrap prices are good in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but demand is a little slow.



Mahmoud Al Sharif - Mahmoud Al Sharif (Middle East)

Mahmoud Al Sharif

Sharif Metals, Int'l LLC (ARE), Board Member of the BIR Plastics Committee


Country
Middle East
Issue
September/October 2019