Green

Steel And Concrete from Demolition Sites in the Dubai to be Recycled

According to reports received recently, efforts made in Dubai to recycle steel and concrete from demolition sites are being wasted due to contractors refusing to opt for recycled building material produced in the UAE itself. The contractors seem to not take too much interest in the environmental benefits derived from using such material. It takes around 10 dirhams for every truckload of construction-related waste to be dumped in a landfill.
The UAE currently has two recycling plants for turning demolition and construction waste into construction materials. Environmental experts say that using recycled construction material produced locally can assist towards cutting down on CO2 emissions – also helping buildings cut back on their environmental impact.

The boom years in Dubai witnessed a production of 11 million tones of construction-related waste per year, according to Neil Roberts, CEO, Emirates Recycling. With the current rate of construction waste production at 20%, the impact on the environment is still huge.

Emirates Recycling’s Construction and Demolition Waste is able to recycle over 500 truckloads or 3 million tones of construction waste per year.
Having the recycling plants and the recycled material is all worthless if it is not going to be used. Turning the construction waste into CDW (waste generated from processing plants and new building sites and concrete waste) does not complete the full sequence of recycling unless it is actually used.

Experts say the UAE needs a policy change with regards to construction and the use of recycled, locally produced material – encouraging builders towards reusing recycled CDW. Another initiative could be government incentives persuading companies to embrace more environmentally friendly practices.