Latest figures show that recycling rates are improving in the UAE.
Last year almost 4.8 million tonnes of rubbish was generated in the country. In 2009 the UAE generated 22% of the 22.2 million tonnes of waste produced in all of the Gulf Countries.
The government has been setting goals to increase recycling rates and aims to recycle 100% of waste by 2030.
Awareness campaigns have increased in the past few years as a result of increase recycling collection centres and media interest.
Cash driven incentives for mobile phone recycling have been popular and increased phone recycling rates. One scheme that has been successful is the ‘Cash for Mobiles’ incentive which was launched last year and encourages people to sell their old mobiles in exchange for instant cash.
Regarding the ‘Cash for Mobiles’ recycling scheme, the CEO and Chairman of the Green Foundation, Dominic Gothard says: “We run the retail scheme through a number of different stores such as Emax and Jacky’s. From the retailers we’ve had an amazing reaction; they’re very keen to offer customers other services that can add to the shopping experience and doesn’t cost them anything. With consumers there seems to be much more interest in the fact you can get cash for old items over the environment factor.”