Emirates Environmental Group - Recycling Facilities

HSBC, a long time supporter of EEG, has once again come on board to give a boost to our Waste Management Programs based on the principle of “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”.

EEG has installed, in about 18 schools in the UAE, HSBC-sponsored recycling centers. These centers are a group of three large metal cages and are specifically meant for recyclables such as paper, plastics and aluminum cans.

HSBC-Sponsored Recycling Centers

Once the recycling center is full, school authorities can notify the EEG who sends its volunteers to empty out the same. EEG coordinates with its partner collection companies to transport the waste for recycling.

The HSBC-sponsored recycling centers from EEG inculcate in students a sense of responsibility towards the environment. They also teach students the importance of segregating wastes. HSBC and EEG, together, provide a unique platform to students and schools who want to help the environment in their own little way.

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For the past decade experts and organizations have been preaching the benefits of recycling, but unfortunately none had managed to put together a practical and convenient method to implement recycling. Therefore for a very long time this waste management tool remained confined to the realm of theory and preaching, but did not translate into actual and habitual practice.

The Emirates Environmental Group, in its continuous quest for an innovative way to combat the problem of solid wastes and establish waste management solutions, introduced a modest can collection programme in local schools in 1992. Initially very few schools responded and joined in this campaign but as the years passed by, this initiative came to attract not only academic institutions but also private and government organizations. The response to this pilot project inspired the Group to open doors for new ideas to include the collection of waste paper, used toner and ink cartridges, for recycling purposes. Through the implementation of these recycling projects, EEG has gained a reputation for its effective, efficient and most importantly sincere initiative to help the government and the private sectors to sensitize the community about the fragility of the earth and the need for appropriate environmental action to preserve its irreplaceable resources.


As we expand from one activity to another, the results and feedback that we get from the participants of these campaigns amply demonstrates that people are willing and able to contribute to recycling initiatives provided they are given the right information, facilities and incentives. The recycling centre project was conceptualized with this lesson in mind.

The aims and objectives of this project are as follows:

* To reduce, reuse, segregate and recycle wastes to minimize the quantity sent to landfills and prevent land, water and air pollution.
* To contain depletion of natural resources, promote water and energy conservation, and facilitate material recovery from waste streams.
* To offer an aesthetically pleasing and effective one-spot collection centre for voluminous assorted wastes, for the use of the entire community.
* To influence social and environmental behavior of the community and promote an environment conscious culture among them.
* To complement the waste management efforts of the local authorities.
* To formally announce the successful implementation of the first phase of the project a press conference was organized by EEG. The conference was hosted by The Fairmont Hotel on March 31st, 2003, which was well attended, by the government and public sectors as well as the educational institutions.

In 2001, EEG started to place Recycling Centres in deserving private schools that were active in recycling campaigns, as well as government schools to support and motivate them. The schools were chosen as the ideal place to start with, as the problem of waste management can be successfully addressed when started at the base level of the community, with the youth as the primary target.


Recycling Center Stats
Sl No. Emirate Recycling centers
1 Dubai 115
2 Sharjah 31
3 Abu Dhabi 21
4 Al Ain 11
5 Ras Al Khaimah 5
6 Ajman 4
7 Fujairah 4
8 Umm Al Quwain 2

Total 193



Usually, the most difficult part of making a recycling project work is getting wastes segregated, which must be done at the source. This requires a lot of effort, will power and coordination from individuals, who are used to the habit of casually dumping their assorted waste all together in one place. The Recycling Centres offer the opportunity to collect large volumes of segregated wastes without impinging on space or aesthetics. It was pointed out that recycling offers an ideal solution to our growing solid waste problem.

The country has the necessary facilities for recycling different products but the challenge lies in how these recyclable materials can be reached to the concerned companies. This is the main role of EEG, to serve as an intermediary between the different concerned parties.