Dubai Airports aim to divert 60% of waste from landfills by mid-2023

Dubai Airports is marking World Environment Day with a new waste management initiative that will keep 60 per cent of all waste from entering landfills by the middle of 2023.

As part of the new programme, the operator has implemented an innovative food waste treatment plan which is expected to capture and compost more than 2,000 tonnes of food waste annually from food and beverage outlets, lounges and hotels across DXB terminals and concourses.

Decomposing food waste in landfills results in the emission of methane gas which is 72 times more harmful to the environment than CO2.

The new food waste plan was created in partnership with Dubai Airports' waste management partner BEEAH Group, the Sharjah-based sustainability pioneer.

It uses a special high-tech biodigester compost system installed in multiple locations across DXB that dramatically increases how food waste breaks down and becomes reusable compost and clean wastewater.

The DXB waste diversion strategy is designed to sustain a resilient waste management system that identifies the least economic, environmental, and social impact methods to capture, treat, reuse, or recycle all forms of waste.

The programme has already achieved a greater than 40 per cent reduction in waste to date, including a unique initiative that captures 100 per cent of all cooking oil used in airport F&B outlets and converts it to biodiesel fuel.

"Capturing and diverting all forms of waste from landfills is a strategically important component of our waste management programme. While airport operations contribute a very small percentage of the overall waste generated at DXB, we are working in close partnership with airlines, F&B facilities, and all other partners across the airport to make a unified commitment to achieving and surpassing our 60 per cent waste reduction objective," said Jamal Zaal, Vice President of Safety and Sustainability at Dubai Airports.

"BEEAH Group is committed to being Dubai Airports' partner to create a range of innovative new programmes to capture and find a useful purpose for all forms of waste in the most practical and impactful ways possible. Deploying Power Knot technology across all DXB terminals and concourses is a great example of that innovation and will put us on the path to achieve our goal of eliminating food waste and achieving our waste diversion targets," said Rafael Sanjurjo Lopez, CEO of Bee'ah Tandeef.

World Environment Day is led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is celebrated by millions of people worldwide.

Held annually since 1974, it has grown into the largest global platform for environmental outreach. The campaign slogan for World Environment Day 2022, hosted by Sweden, is "Only One Earth" and is focused on living sustainably in harmony with nature.