Ever since the UAE has started to evolve, it has been a pinnacle of innovation, infrastructure, and sustainable development. A couple of years ago, in 2021, it introduced the Vision 2021 National Agenda that aimed to balance UAE’s economic growth with protecting their environment by bettering air quality, conserving energy and water along with other green initiatives. With that said, let’s talk about UAE’s Vision 2021 in detail and how Ajman has contributed towards it since then.

UAE’s Vision 2021 & Ajman’s Role

The UAE Vision 2021 was introduced to foster sustainability in the country’s ground-shattering economic growth. The Vision came along with detailed frameworks, KPIs and benchmarks that all-together focuses on integrating technology and environmental care in every initiative for the community’s well-being. Ajman is contributing towards both Vision 2021 and the UAE Centennial 2071.

As the key focus of UAE revolves around waste management for environmental sustainability, they have introduced specific initiatives, public awareness campaigns, and modern waste processing systems. It focuses on the following results:

• Reduce water scarcity.
• Improve air quality.
• Enhance the quality of air transport and port infrastructure.
• Increase the percentage of treated waste.
• Boost the share of clean energy in the total energy mix.
• Improve network readiness for telecommunications and IT.
• Enhance logistics performance and overall infrastructure.
• Decrease the time needed to access government housing and loans.
• Improve online services.

Ajman’s Waste Management Framework

Ajman Municipality and Planning Department (AMPD) has made a successful framework to deal with waste management issues. By implementing this structure, the major part of the waste goes to landfills to dispose of it responsibly. The remaining is sent to recycling facilities. The core idea behind this is to focus on reducing less waste, recycle materials, and educate the community about waste management.

Strategic Collection of Waste

Specific contractors in different cities of UAE manage the collection of municipal solid waste. To send the waste off to landfills, they utilize special vehicles that have permits to access landfill areas. For better safety, these vehicles’ permits get renewed every year based on the approximate amount of waste they deal with. This system helps to regulate how waste is transported and disposed of. It also ensures they use landfills to responsibly dispose of waste.

Not only that, advanced waste processing facilities including RDF (Refuse-Derived Fuel) facility keeps the  waste out of landfills. This facility comes with capacity limits, and requires updates followed by regular monitoring.

Waste Management Awareness Initiatives in Ajman

Ajman has launched waste management campaigns to encourage people to utilize resources sustainably and recycle them. As per rules of waste management under the Federal Law No. 12 of 2018 and Ministerial Resolution No. 21 of 2019 encourages, these campaigns encourage people to use recycled materials in construction as well.

Challenges of Recycling Waste in UAE

Ajman’s population has increased tremendously from 2017 to 2021. The population of Ajman in 2021 touched 399,000, showing a 1.79% increase compared to the year before. Although it speaks volume that the metro area is developing, the waste management issue is also becoming inevitable. That’s why the UAE’s government has created guidelines and launched campaigns to promote sustainable waste disposal that we talked about above.

UAE aims to raise recycling rate and put a stop on individual waste to 1.2 kilogram a day by 2035. Landfill areas have limited capacity to deal with waste. This initiative is taken for the ongoing continuity of responsible waste disposal at landfill areas.

Steps for Sustainable Waste Disposal

Below are the brief steps that have the potential for better waste disposal and they have been currently utilized by UAE’s government as well.

1. Reduce Waste

To reduce waste, they encourage people to avoid single-use items and choose reusable ones instead. This increases the awareness about cutting down on packaging waste and encourages people to change their lifestyles to rely less on disposable stuff.

2. Reuse Waste

Reusing containers and bags while shopping has worked well over time. Awareness campaigns also aims to teach people about reusing and upcycling waste items to reduce garbage.

3. Donate Unwanted Items

Environmentalists also emphasize on donating usable items you no longer need. This helps the community cut down on waste and it’s also a better alternative than throwing items away.

4. Recycling Items

Although recycling is eco-friendly, it’s important to know what stuff to recycle. The awareness campaigns in Ajman and UAE all-together guides the public on what can and cannot be recycled. The local government has provided necessary bins and centers for recycling.

Conclusion

Ajman is working hard to manage its waste and help the environment. They use new ideas and technology to recycle more. The city encourages people to sort their trash and join recycling programs. They also work with businesses to find better ways to recycle. To build a better future, we all need to work together. This means everyone, including the government and local people. Ajman wants to take care of our waste and the environment. By doing this, we can help make the world cleaner and better for kids in the future.

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