Masdar revises down sustainability pledge

03 March 2011

City aims to divert more than 50 per cent of waste from landfill

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) has said that it will aim to divert 50 per cent of the city’s operating waste from landfill, instead of its original target of 90 per cent.

The new target applies to household and other waste generated by the green city’s residents, but not construction waste. Diverted waste could be used for recycling or waste-to-energy.

The revised target is to be applied to the first phase of the city. Subsequent phases will work towards progressively higher waste diversion targets. By phase 5, the city is expected to be operating at almost 90 per cent diversion.

“Some of the technologies and systems that we would need for a very high level of diversion are not scalable,” says Olabode Ibukunolu Esan, waste manager at Masdar.

“For instance, you can’t have a waste-to-energy plant that has a capacity of less than about 50,000 tonnes a year.”

But some industry sources have indicated that the revised target is an important development as it effectively sets the city’s waste management target below that of the city of Abu Dhabi itself.

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