
Gulf economies cannot afford to keep wasting food to this extent – Averda’s CSO writes for Gulf News
Better sourcing and deploying technology can ease some of that pressure.


On July 31st 2016, Averda and the Municipality of Dubai have commissioned the second Smart Recycling Centre in Dubai, as part of the first initiative of its kind across the GCC. The Centre is located in Karama Park and high ranking officials of Dubai Municipality and Averda have attended its inauguration.
An exclusive partnership between Averda and Dubai Municipality, the project comprised of equipping the recycling centre with solar panels to ensure its energy efficiency and minimal environmental impact whilst the recycling bins are provided with intelligent relay sensors, feeding various accurate data back to Averda’s monitoring stations, including alerts when the bins are nearing their maximum intake capacity.
A key feature of this recently inaugurated Recycling Center is represented by its environmental friendly characteristics: not only does it support Dubai Municipality’s commitment to enforcing a highly sustainable waste management policy but, also, only recycled materials have been used for its construction: the floors are made of recycled wood, the main container body frame is from a recycled 20 feet shipping container and the power used to operate it is entirely generated by solar panels.
The Recycling Centre is monitored remotely via smart sensors fitted to its compartments, by CCTV and is also equipped with an automatic motion sensor that will activate an audio welcoming message for the users.
With safety being a priority across all Averda’s operations, the newly commissioned Recycling Centre makes no exception: automatic fire extinguishers are fixed onto the Centre’s internal ceiling and the dry chemical powder they are using can handle flammable liquid, flammable gas, carbonaceous and electrical fires.

Averda, in close co-operation with Dubai Municipality, plans to commission other similar fully automated Recycling Centres across Dubai in the second half of 2016, to ensure that these meet the strategic objectives of Dubai Municipality’s Waste Recycling and Waste Awareness programmes.
Mr Oussama Natour, MD averda UAE said: “Although there are certain countries in the world that currently use solar panel operated recycling stations, there were none in operation in UAE before 2016. We are fully committed to increase recycling awareness across Dubai and are extremely proud and honoured of our achievement. We can only hope that Averda will contribute to Dubai being recognised as a leader in MENA Region in terms of its approach to waste recycling.”
The two recycling stations commissioned by Averda are located in congested areas across Dubai, making it easier for consumers and traders to become more waste aware, thus supporting Municipality of Dubai in its efforts to expand “My City, My Environment” Recycling Programme.

Better sourcing and deploying technology can ease some of that pressure.

Averda, the Dubai-headquartered end-to-end waste management, treatment and recycling company in emerging markets, has announced the appointment of Samer Kamal as the company’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer.

A landmark new agreement between IFC and Averda International, one of the largest privately owned integrated waste management companies in the Middle East and Africa, is helping to bring innovative waste solutions to emerging markets in the two regions.