Dubai: New waste bins for unwanted mobile phones, desktops and other electronic devices will be scavenger-proof, a senior official said.
People will not be able to take out items from the e-waste bins owing to their purpose-built design, said Abdul Majeed Saifaie, director of Dubai Municipality’s waste management department.
Electronic devices that are disposed of attract scavengers because they contain small amounts of gold, copper and other valuable materials found in the circuitry.
However, they also contain lead and other pollutants, the municipality says.
The civic body is planning to place the bins in select locations such as shopping malls and public areas to collect discarded devices for recycling. Currently, e-waste is dumped in landfills, causing contamination.
Last week, Salah Amiri, assistant director-general of the municipality for environment and public health services sector, said most electronic equipment contains lead and other chemicals that pollute the soil and leak into the ground water which, in turn, “poses a high risk to bio-diversity and nature”.
The first delivery of the bins is expected in “a couple of weeks”, Saifaie told Gulf News on Wednesday. Some facilities have agreed to host the bins, which have a capacity of 1.5 cubic metres.
“We’ll start with a dozen and increase them as per demand. Right now they won’t be in residential areas. It is part of the year 2030 target of zero-landfill use,” he said.
Recycling e-waste is currently not mandatory in Dubai, but there have been many volunteer programmes to collect and reuse throw-away items, including tens of thousands of disused mobile handsets.
In an earlier statement, the municipality had said: “Nowadays, families and individuals have thousands of electronic electrical devices that collectively weigh millions of tonnes.
“Thus, the waste management department has made an agreement with Averda Co to design an advanced bin exclusively for electronic waste which will be placed in public places such as parks, [municipality] centres, commercial centres and cooperative societies in different areas of the emirate.”
The roll-out is based on the directives of Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality.
Saifaie’s comments came on the sidelines of an event to announce the Clean Middle East Expo 2014, to be held on October 21-23 in Dubai.
Multibillion-dirham industry
Last year, roughly $1.4 billion (Dh5.14 billion) traded hands in the cleaning and hygiene industry in the UAE, according to one estimate.
The Expo, taking place at the Dubai international Convention and Exhibition Centre, is expected to attract 4,000 visitors. It will feature major suppliers of cleaning equipment, chemical products and waste management solutions.
