Waste Management in UAE - Essay Example

Waste Management in UAE Introduction The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is one of the largest and fast growing regions in the world. The UAE constitutes of Dubai Emirates. Dubai has experienced significant economic growth over the years since it has global recognition as a development hub for business and information communication and technology. Dubai is considered as a business center for the Middle East. Additionally, the Dubai Government has integrated numerous policies that promote the development of a diversified economy that have transformed the city into a fast growing urban center. These transformations have attracted multinational individuals into the city for business and leisure purposes. The city has an intelligently planned series of attractive destinations within the city as well as attractive tourist marketing strategies within the country as well as abroad (Lingard, Gilbert & Graham, 2001). Due to increasing and transient tourist population, Dubai has a high level of waste generation. However, Dubai faces challenges in terms of inefficient waste management services resulting in waste management problems. The problem has also extended to other cities within the UAE. As a result, most cities have developed a strategic waste management plan to ensure environmental sustainability. In Dubai, wastes are often classified into five categories. The categories include General Wastes, Construction and Demolition wastes (C&D), green/horticultural wastes, Hazardous wastes and liquid waste. The construction wastes contribute the largest percentage (75%) of total wastes generated in Dubai (Formoso, Isatto & Hirota, 1999). In this regard, construction wastes from UAE form the second largest waste per capita after the US. Usually, construction wastes constitute of the differences between the materials ordered for the construction of a given building and the materials used in the building projects. These wastes constitute of earth materials that are transported. The wastes are often in the form of scrap material, construction effluents, and by-products produced and often removed. There are different waste measurement methods. One of the methods used includes evaluation of embodied energy of the construction materials. Additionally, construction waste can also be measured based on the weight of the waste, percentage of construction materials purchased as well as a percentage of the total wastes’ cost (Dainty & Brooke, 2004). In establishing the measurements, one must put into consideration the waste streams, volume and weight of the wastes. By understanding, how construction wastes are recorded and measured, the government and other waste management agencies will have the capabilities of knowing the precise amount of wastes generated. Such information will be used as a benchmarking tool that projects and companies can adopt in minimizing the amount of construction waste. Additionally, the information will be used in analyzing the generation and disposal of construction wastes. The sources of construction wastes can be categorized into four groups, namely; design, procurement, material handling, and operations (Al-Qaydi, 2006). However, the design category constitutes the largest source of construction wastes. It, therefore, evident that construction wastes can be minimized in the early stages by properly designing and planning of the construction project. Contractors can, therefore, benefit from proper designing of the construction projects since the excessive cutoffs. In most cases, the increase in construction wastes is also associated with the wastages of the labor intensive nature of construction projects. In this regard, the wastages are behaviorist problems associated with inefficiencies of construction workers. In this regard, the contractor must change the behavior impediments associated with construction waste issues. Workers involved in the construction process. Moreover, the contractor will be in a position to make effective procurement, operation and handling of construction materials (Alarcon, 1993). Ultimately, the contractors will enjoy higher profit margins from the construction boom that is experienced in UAE. In the procurement of construction materials, the contractor may reduce wastages by ensuring that the materials are delivered in appropriate methods and according to schedule. Additionally, the contractor must ensure that materials purchased are of the right quality and quantity (Alarcon, 1993). The contractor must have adequate information and advice on the materials purchased from the contractor as well as maintenance of effective supply chain systems. Concerning handling, the contractor must ensure effective handling of construction materials. The contractor needs to make sure that the materials are not damaged during transportation or storage. The contractor must improve the working culture on the effective management of construction materials through effective training, support from senior management, creating employee awareness and incentives for effective use of materials (Alarcon, 1993). The contractor can also maintain effective use of materials during the operation process by minimizing, re-work, negligence and variation of the project. Moreover, the contractor must ensure that he hires skilled workers. Lastly, the contractor must ensure efficient coordination and communications between employees and management as well as effectively anticipate all weather conditions. At the government level, construction wastes can be reduced by advocating for waste prevention, waste re-use and waste recycle. The government must ensure effective enforcement of all legal waste restriction policies. In this regard, the government may use the municipal administration officers to impose fines and penalties for waste disposal offenses. The contractors and project managers must pay heavy penalties for illegal disposal of construction wastes and heavy charges in waste management (such as higher landfill taxes, contract document regulation). This encourages effective use of materials and reduce wastages (Lingard, Gilbert & Graham, 2001). Moreover, the local administration has integrated numerous incentives in the waste management sector in the form of tax exceptions and reliefs. Moreover, the local government has introduced technical guidelines on the waste collection, transportation, trade and recycling. In this regard, the Dubai municipality has initiated numerous private- public partnership projects aimed at encouraging recycling of construction wastes such as steel components. The Dubai government has continuously increased worker awareness on minimizing construction wastes by advertising the benefits and rules of on-site waste control by use of toolbox talks and posters. Moreover, construction companies that meet their waste management targets are awarded and recognized for minimal waste disposal. The recognition forms an incentive for good practices that minimize construction wastes (Formoso, Isatto & Hirota, 1999). At a global level, more advocacies on the importance of management of construction waste will go a long way in decreasing a number of construction wastes. Moreover, global companies involved in recycling the wastes may open up recycling plants. Lastly, countries with advanced construction expertise may provide consultancy services and training of construction workers to increase the efficiency of off-site prefabricated materials in controlling on-site construction wastes. Moreover, the UAE must adopt numerous environmental standards and assessment tools. These tools include the environmental management system standards developed at Rio de Janiero in 1992, the Eco management and audit scheme developed by European Union in 1993. In addition, the UAE must enforce the ISO 14001 environmental management system. The ISO 14001 certification provides an opportunity for the government to control construction waste activities in major construction firms (Alarcon, 1993). Conclusion The main causes of high construction wastes in the UAE are insufficient worker awareness and motivation on efficient use of materials, excessive offcuts resulting from poor project designs, variation and reworks of the construction projects. On the other hand, the main indirect cause of construction waste is the lack of contractual and legal incentives. Some of the practices implemented by contractors to counteract construction wastes include adequate storage of construction materials, providing worker awareness and efficient training for waste control and the adoption of just in time delivery of construction materials. However, material recycling and reuse is rarely practiced. Additionally, waste measurement and segregation provide more information on efficient recycling and reuse of construction wastes. The information can enable the government as well as contractors to understand more on the nature and amount of materials that can be recycled. Additionally, the UAE must adopt numerous environmental standards and assessment tools (Lingard, Gilbert & Graham, 2001). References Alarcon, L. F. (1993). Modelling waste and performance in construction. in Alarcon, L. (Ed.) Lean Construction A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. Al-Qaydi, S. (2006). Industrial solid waste disposal in Dubai, UAE: A study in economic geography. Cities, 23(2), 140-148. Dainty, A. R. J., & Brooke, R. J. (2004). Towards improved construction waste minimisation: a need for improved supply chain integration. Structural Survey, 22 (1), 20–29. Formoso, C. T., Isatto, E. L., & Hirota, E. H. (1999). Method for waste control in the building industry. Proceedings IGLC-7, 7th Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Berkeley, CA, 26-28 Lingard, H., Gilbert, G., & Graham, P. (2001). Improving solid waste reduction and recycling performance using goal setting and feedback. Construction Management and Economics, 19 (8), 809-17. Read More