Dubai 2027 without landfills… and a system to convert waste into energy

Dubai Municipality revealed a comprehensive plan to close all waste landfills in the emirate by the end of 2027, confirming that five landfills have been completely closed so far, as part of its efforts to transform into an integrated waste management system that relies on recycling and converting waste into energy, explaining that work is underway to close the Al Qusais and Bayadah landfills, so that the landfills will be completely dispensed with when the new waste treatment infrastructure is completed.
The municipality reported that the Dubai Center for Waste Treatment and Conversion to Energy, which was operated last year, processes 6,000 tons per day of municipal solid waste, equivalent to about 50% of Dubai’s total waste, amounting to 13,000 tons per day. The center also generates 200 megawatts per hour of electricity using steam technology resulting from recycling treated water, enough to supply energy to 350,000 residential units per day, according to the agreement signed with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
In detail, the Executive Director of the Waste and Sanitation Corporation in Dubai Municipality, Engineer Adel Al Marzouqi, said that general waste is a global challenge facing many countries, but the Emirate of Dubai was able to turn this challenge into an opportunity by establishing the largest center of its kind in the world to convert waste into energy, with a capacity of 6,000 tons per day.
Al Marzouqi explained that the “Dubai Waste Treatment Center” project, which was launched last year, is an exceptional achievement in the world in terms of the scale of operations and techniques for converting waste into energy, as it produces about 200 megawatts per hour of electrical energy, which is returned to the city and covers the consumption of 350,000 residential units daily, according to the agreement concluded with the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
He added that the center today receives approximately 50% of the emirate’s total daily waste, as Dubai produces about 13,000 tons of waste daily, 6,000 tons of which are converted into energy through technologies that rely on passing recycled water and converting it into steam that is used to operate steam generators to produce electricity, which makes the process integrated and sustainable.
Al Marzouqi pointed out that one of the most important goals of the next phase is to completely get rid of waste landfills by the end of 2027, as five landfills have already been completely closed, including (Warsan Landfill, Jebel Ali Landfill, and Hatta Landfill), pointing out that during the coming period, two landfills will be closed, namely (Al Qusais Landfill and Bayadah Landfill), with the entry of additional centers to convert waste into energy or to enhance recycling operations.
He stated in media statements that the center not only converts waste into electricity, but also invests in the bottom ash resulting from the burning process, as agreements have been signed with DP World and the Roads and Transport Authority to use this ash in the construction of temporary roads as foundation materials (Road Base), in addition to ongoing studies to use it in the manufacture of products such as “interlock”, which contributes to saving millions of dirhams for government agencies and reducing dependence on new materials.
He stressed that the Emirate of Dubai has succeeded in building an integrated circular waste system, where waste is removed from homes and returned to them in the form of electricity, in a model that reflects innovation, sustainability, and foresight for the future, and makes the “Waste Engine” a pioneering national project in the field of clean energy and resource management.