Abu Dhabi pays Dh1.5 bn for waste disposal

Waste disposal is draining the coffers of Abu Dhabi government given the high output in the emirate and relatively low fees paid by residents for the disposal of their waste, according to an official report.

The Abu Dhabi waste management centre, an affiliate of the municipality, said it had massively revised up its previous estimates of waste output in Abu Dhabi from 13,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes a day.

In a report published in the Sharjah-based daily Alkhaleej, the centre gave no reason for the increase but said the high waste amounts are draining funds and land in Abu Dhabi, by far the largest UAE emirate.

“The increase in waste quantities is costing the emirate an average two million square metres every year as such land is converted into waste burial areas…besides, waste disposal and recycling operations cost the government as much as Dh1.5 billion a year,” the report said.

It said a new programme dubbed Nadhafa (cleanliness) introduced by the emirate early this year to levy tax from companies on waste disposal covers less than 20 per cent of the total waste disposal costs.

The report noted that such costs could reach Dh550 per tonne of traditional waste but could be as high as Dh6,000 for medical and other toxic waste.

Nadhafa was launched in March and it involves a fee of Dh225 per each tonne of waste produced by public and private establishments operating in the emirate.

The plan, the first of its kind to be enforced in Abu Dhabi,  is designed to cut the quantity of waste produced in the emirate, ease the financial burden of waste disposal and ensure safe treatment and disposal of waste to avert any damage to the environment, according to Hamad Al-Amiri, the centre’s director.

He said the Abu Dhabi executive council (cabinet) had approved a fee of Dh225 per each tonne or around 45 per cent of the actual costs.

“The fees will be calculated according to the waste production by each establishment depending on its size and activity...around 4,500 establishments with different activities and sizes have been classified,” he said.