Abu Dhabi mulling Pay As You Throw fees from next year

Dubai - The fee is part of the integrated waste management master plan for the Capital which will be ready by mid next year.

From next year, Abu Dhabi residents and Dubai companies will have to cough up for what they waste as the emirates are mulling new "Pay As You Throw" fees in an effort to minimise per capita waste generation in the country.

Tadweer, the Centre of Waste Management in Abu Dhabi has proposed to introduce a "Pay As You Throw (PAYT)" fee for different sectors in Abu Dhabi, including the residential sector, Policies and Legislations Specialist with Tadweer Dr Udayan Banerjee said on Monday.

The fee is part of the integrated waste management master plan for the Capital which will be ready by mid next year.

"One of the deliverables of the plan is this fee, subject to approval from the executive council," Dr Banerjee told Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the 6th Annual Waste Management Middle East Forum in Dubai.

"It is a major challenge. But we need to do this because behavioural changes can only be triggered once you pinch the pockets," he said.

The tariff and the method of calculating the fee have not been finalised yet. "Weighing the waste that each person is generating is not an easy job.Different models are being worked out.We are working to find out what kind of a model will be acceptable.whether based on the number of residents or number of bedrooms in an apartment or villa or something else."

Companies producing more than 250 tonnes of waste per year in Abu Dhabi already have to pay Dh225 per tonne and a maximum of Dh50,000 a year.

Once the new fee is implemented, residents of Abu Dhabi will be the first in the country to pay for the high amount of rubbish they are sending to the landfill.

The Dubai Municipality officials at the forum ruled out a chance for the emirate to introduce a similar fee since the civic body is already charging a housing fee from expat residents for all civic services which include waste management also.

New tipping fee in Dubai

However, they said the emirate will be implementing a new tipping fee for waste sent to landfill by private companies, which is also subject to approval from its executive council.

Currently, the municipal landfills charge Dh10 as gate fee per truck load of waste being dumped in them.

"The new fee will be per tonne, not per truck," said Naji Al Radhi, the head of the Waste Treatment Section at the municipality's Waste Management Department.

He explained that the fee will be levied from the companies that provide waste collection and dumping services on contractual basis.

"We cannot go to each company and collect fee for the waste they generate. These companies that transport the waste to landfills will in turn charge them more. The new fee will force the private sector to invest in facilities for waste segregation, recycling and reusing."

Imad Juma Mohammed, acting head of Technical Support and Studies Section, said the new tipping fee is likely to be implemented from the beginning of 2016.

New recycling stations

He said the department is also adding 13 new community recycling stations in densely populated areas. Multiple bins with easy access for the disabled will be placed at these stations for residents to deposit recyclable items including mobile phones, batteries and tube lights, said Mohammed.

Al Radhi said the Dubai Municipality is also reviving its long-halted waste-to-energy plant plan.

All these new moves are part of the efforts to reduce the per capita solid waste generation per day to 900 gram as per the UAE's National Agenda 2021. Currently, the UAE has one of the highest rates, with each person in the country estimated to produce from 1.9 to 2.5kg of waste every day.

sajila@khaleejtimes.com

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• UAE
• Abu Dhabi