The Middle East Facilities Management Association (Mefma) partnered with founding member Imdaad, to study the annual level of general waste being collected by the company across residential and commercial communities in Dubai.

The research was conducted to celebrate World FM Day, on June 27.

The data revealed 326,665 tonnes were collected in 2010 , of which 12.5 per cent was recyclable.  In 2011 this reduced to 292,081 tonnes collected of which 15.4 per cent was recyclable. However the decreasing trend did not continue into 2012, with 325,522 tonnes collected of which 13.6 per cent was recyclable.

Ali Hassan, director of environment services, said: “The fact that levels are increasing and decreasing over the last three years is not an indication of waste disposal habits in Dubai. Moreover, the real estate sector has bounced back and more commercial and residential properties have come onto the market.”

“With a natural increase in the population occupying new buildings it is impossible to keep reducing waste levels year on year. Instead the focus must be on educating people of Dubai on recycling and choosing recyclable products at the point of purchase,” he added.

Releasing the results is purposefully aligned with this year’s theme for World FM Day, ‘Creating, Sharing and Learning,’ said a senior official.

“Working with Imdaad to extract and reveal its data was driven by the World FM Day objective to create content that can be shared and used as context for future learning," said said Sinead Bridgett, executive director of Mefma.

"It not only highlights the FM industry’s contribution towards the upkeep of our communities but also sets the framework for discussion and learning amongst the wider construction, property and government sectors,” she said. – TradeArabia News Service