As many as 20,550 volunteers from several government and non-government organisations, community groups, schools and private firms collected more than 4150 tons of waste in the biggest ever “Clean Up the World” campaign organised by Dubai Municipality last week.

“We have registered a 12 per cent increase in the number of participants as compared to last year. This would not have been possible, had there not been greater cooperation from schools, green organizations, private firms and government departments,” stated Abdullah Rafia, assistant director general of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Sector.

“We initially expected just over 18000 volunteers. But, the number soared to 20,550 with people from all walks of life coming forward to serve the environment they live in. There were registrations until last minute from several groups interested in taking part in the campaign.'

'This shows the high level of environmental awareness among Dubai’s residents and their commitment towards keeping their surroundings clean and tidy,” said Rafia.

As part of the campaign's awareness programmes, workshops were organised for general public on recycling and reducing waste.

Other events included environmental workshops on making usable materials from waste, broadcasting campaign programmes on school radios, collection of used materials, lectures in schools on the importance of waste reduction, and arranging visits for students to waste recycling factories.-TradeArabia News Service