Give Or Take A Billion

Almost one billion kilograms of household waste is generated every year in this our fair city. This colossus will finally find a resting place in the number of recycling plants that are being set up not just to deal with overflowing landfills but also to create job opportunities and profit.

True to form Dubai, with its astute business sense, has come up with a solution to a burgeoning problem many people said would soon become a major environmental disaster.

So, the recycling plants are all planning to make gold from the mountains of household, industrial and other waste (our cover story).

In many countries in the east, recycling companies go door to door to collect materials and pay for every kilo they gather. The price paid is according to the value of the material: metal, glass, cloth, plastic and paper.

Everybody gets in on the recycling action, including full-time scavengers, and everybody wins.

In the West people pay the government to recycle household and other waste and are even fined for not following the rules. The sorting, packing and loading is all done by the householder so that the state can pick it up and make a profit.

In Dubai, however, we can continue to swing our rubbish into the nearest bin and forget about it because the recycling elves will do their rounds and make it disappear.

UAE government statistics show that every Dubai resident generates an average of two kilos of rubbish a day. Multiply that by the 1.4 million people who live here and that is 2.8 million kilos a day and a billion kilos a year.

Now imagine if every kilo of garbage gifted to the recycling plant got you a dirham; you could make a neat sum from just creating more.

If the recycling plants charged you for every kilo they would make a profit. This would lead you to create less waste and the environment wins.

Who should be the victor in this war on garbage? Let us know.