Study finds Dubai Mall visitors create average half kilo of waste each

A survey revealed that each visitor at the UAE’s famous Dubai Mall generates over half a kilo of waste per visit.

According to the National, information gathered from seven malls in the UAE showed that each visitor used an average of 511 kWh per square meter of energy, 10.86 liters of water and produced 520 grams of waste.

“511 kWh is enough energy to run a fridge-freezer continuously for 365 days,” the newspaper reported Markus Oberlin, CEO of facilities management company Farnek, as saying.

He added that a comprehensive energy plan is needed as a low-performing mall takes up twice as much energy as a big mall.

The studies found that on average, only 23 percent of this was turned from landfill to recycling.

The UAE had released recycling guidelines for malls in 2012 which states that malls must separate plastics, paper and metal and glass into recyclable waste bins. This was to ensure that 75 percent of Dubai’s waste was recyclable that year.

This year, the Dubai Municipality is set to raise its fee per trip fur landfill waste dump trucks from 10 AED to 80 AED per ton of waste. They are planning to increase it to 100 AED by 2020, according to the newspaper.

The UAE has one of the highest waste generation rates. According to studies done in 2016, each person in the country produces an average of 2.3 kilograms of waste every day, while Dubai generates 8,200 tons of municipal solid waste per day which is 15 percent above the global average.

Dubai has set a target of zero landfill waste by 2030.