13 March 2006

Dubai: More than seven million cubic metres of landfill waste from Sharjah is being moved to Al Dhaid in the largest landfill remediation project in the world, and the first in the UAE.

The landfill should be successfully relocated near the cement factory on the Sharjah-Al Dhaid road by August 2007.

Future plans for the cleared land will be announced at a later date said the director-general of Sharjah Municipality who undertook the project with Emirates Environment Technology, a waste management solutions company, in 2004.

"The land will most probably be used for buildings and urban developments. We are eliminating the problem of the landfill as it is surrounded by other buildings and we will rehabilitate the whole area. It is a value added project because it treats health and environment problems," said Abdullah Salman Al Ameri.

He said the new landfill would make use of new waste management technologies and would be able to treat hospital, municipal and construction waste.

The Dh210 million remediation project will mean less pollution for residents around the area and a boost for recycling, said Reinhard Goeschl, general-director of Emirates Environment Technology (EET).

Recycling plant
"A new recycling plant in Al Ain will be used to treat and recycle some of the waste. The sorting plant will be able to cope with 1.2 tonnes of waste a day. Landfills are very expensive and dangerous for waste management as no one can control it inside," said Goeschl.

The new landfill will contain already sorted waste which will be bailed and put down on a lining to minimise seepage. Gravel and sand will be cleaned and put back. This new method of managing waste is one way to ensure that the site can be safely built on in the future instead of relocating it again, said Tania Afram, chief commercial officer for EET.

"Waste won't be just dumped like it is now and risk polluting underground water. The point of remediation projects like this is environmental. Landfills attract hordes of birds and mosquitoes which can be a nightmare for nearby residents," said Afram.

She added that the landfill was on now valuable land.

"Landfills in general end up occupying very expensive land surrounded by the rest of the city. With development and infrastructure landfills need to be moved to a new site kilometres out of the city," she said.

By Emmanuelle Landais

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.