Video: Building a circular economy in the UAE

Dubai: If life were to go on the way we have been living so far, we are likely up run out of all resources soon, pointed out Madhumohan S, Chief Innovation Officer, Environment Solutions, Dulsco, Dubai.

He was speaking at a panel discussion entitled ‘UAE circular economy, the Path ahead for sustainable living’ at the World Sustainable Business Forum in Dubai on Monday. Explaining the concept, he said: “Earlier, we were a degenerative linear economy — where every resource we chose, used and discarded ended in the landfill. The same principle was applied to other aspects of economy. But this was highly unsustainable as we live in a country with a fragile eco system. Now we have adopted a regenerative, circular approach where resource that is used is reclaimed, recycled and reused in a manner that we are making the society more sustainable.”

He gave the example of recycling of waste, which started some time ago. “Dubai generates 6,000-7,000 tins of solid waste per day of which nearly 70 per cent is recyclable. When we started segregating waste into metal, paper and plastic at the individual consumer level, we are able to recycle about 25-30 tones of waste. Not everything ends up at the landfill. This waste recycling has great implications at the industry level. Besides, it’s not just waste. In a circular economy, one can recycle so many resources — energy, water, raw material and much more. This is the way forward,” he said.

Madhumohan added that the circular economy models were prevalent for a long time in Europe and other eco conscious countries. The UAE too is sensitised to this and has been implementing these sustainable goals. “One of the main themes at the Expo is to make sure at least 85 per cent of the waste generated will not end in the landfill,” said Madhumohan, pointing out how UAE was committed to the circular economy principle.