Initiatives are being taken to ensure a better waste management plan by both government and industry. During the recent Arab Environment Day, H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water spoke of the role of technology and innovative solutions that will enable a sustainable environment, coinciding with the launch of the Carbon Footprint App by the Ministry.

Taking into account the vision for an eco-friendly and sustainable nation and with the theme of 'pushing for a greater environmental protection enforcement and accountability', the 5th Annual Waste Management Middle East Forum inaugurated yesterday at the Dusit Thani in Dubai, U.A.E. The forum is being endorsed by and held under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, U.A.E. The event is also officially supported by the Dubai Municipality.

Inaugurating the event was Eng. Abdulmajeed Saifaie, Director of Waste Management from Dubai Municipality. Kicking off the first session was Dr. Udayan Banerjee who is the Environment Health and Safety Specialist at the Center of Waste Management – Abu Dhabi. Where Banerjee spoke about a product life-cycle and to think about waste management from initiation, H.E. Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Nuaim from the Arab Urban Development Institute elaborated on extracting resources like energy and fertilizers from disposed waste.

Pasi Lestelin of Valmet Corporation, a leading global developer and supplier of services and technologies for the pulp, paper and energy industries, spoke on the new technologies that create added value from biomass, waste and renewable fuels. He also presented a case-study on the Lahti Energy Ltd plant in Finland - a commercial waste gasification power plant. Bioelektra Group, a polish based company that is investing in municipal waste management, also addressed on an innovative solution for municipal solid waste processing with a 100% ecological effect. Both Valmet and Bioelektra Group are supporting the event as Waste to Energy and Technology Partners.

The first day also witnessed a number of case-studies. Where Dr. Taghreed Al Hashimi presented on Municipal Solid Waste – to – Biofuel Project of Masdar City, Sietse A. Agema of AEB Amsterdam addressed the delegation on the Amsterdam Waste Fired Power Plant – world’s largest and most efficient waste combustion and steam turbine generation power plant. Attendees also heard from Dr. Kirstie McIntyre on HP’s commitment to the circular economy: lessons from WEEE and Ahmed Gouda presented about the milestone of zero waste to landfill program by Unilever. Panel discussions also saw debates on the innovation in waste management sector and a sustainable approach to waste by creating value from waste.

Today, the second and final day of the event, will feature topics on waste reduction and the outlook for waste, moving forward. Attendees are scheduled to hear from Chairmen at the conference Dr. Mohammad Aref of Weatherford and Fareed Bushehri of UNEP who will speak on social campaigns and effective waste minimization strategies respectively. Covering topics on hazardous medical waste and safe management of health care waste will be experts from Ministry of Health – General Directorate of Health Affairs, Eastern Province Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi Health Services Company.

Speakers from Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, Supreme Council of Environment – Kingdom of Bahrain and ENOC will cover topics ranging from anaerobic treatment of waste water, community participation and waste minimisation through management practices. Panel discussions will also see debates on strategies and modern decisions in waste master planning.

Sponsors at the event were leading companies from the industry that included Teamtec, BLUBOX (Associate Sponsors) and Wastech Engineering (Exhibitor). The event also saw support from leading trade body The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.