ABU DHABI // About 90 per cent of villa communities on Abu Dhabi island are now covered by waste-recycling programmes.
Special bins are being distributed by the Centre of Waste Management as part of a door-to-door collection initiative that is to be expanded across the emirate.
The centre started providing the 240-litre bins in September 2011, and now there are more than 30,000 of the green and black bins in villa communities.
We visited several areas of the capital to find out whether residents were aware of the recycling initiative and how to use the bins.
Not everyone realised they were for segregating rubbish because the centre has largely left residents to decipher the process on their own.
Most were learning about the plan from the colour of the bins and the pictures on top, which show what items to place in them.
Non-recyclable waste, such as discarded food, cleaning sponges, cigarettes and general rubbish, goes in the black bins. The green bins should be used for glass bottles, cans, paper and plastic.
"I always segregate at home and put the waste in two separate bags before dumping in these bins," said Brigitte Arrouays, from France, who lives in Al Nahyan Camp. "I have two different bins in my kitchen for recyclable and non-recyclable waste."
She said she had not received any leaflets or information from the centre but had made her children aware of the difference between the green and black bins.
She was surprised to learn rubbish collectors put all the waste in one vehicle after residents have separated it, and hoped the centre was collecting waste like this only until residents had been fully educated about the programme.
The centre said that although rubbish was collected at once, it was separated at the plant for recycling.
When we surveyed villa communities in January, we discovered residents were not aware of the recycling plan. Now, many have started to separate their rubbish.
Thomas Topolski, from the United States, said he welcomed the recycling initiative and was aware of waste separation plans.
"I always do it at home before putting it in the bins," he said. "In our country, everybody is familiar with these things, which are getting popular here. It is a good move towards preserving the environment."
Mumtaz Moosankunnumal, from India, said: "My children also know about green and black because it's a part of education about how to save the environment and how we can contribute."
The centre said 33,000 tonnes of waste were generated in the emirate each day, about two-thirds of which comes from building and demolition companies.
The centre aims to cut waste by 70 per cent by 2015 and 80 per cent by 2018.
It says it tries, through continuing campaigns, to spread the message that segregating waste at home will help to save the environment and build a sustainable future.
It has no timetable for achieving complete coverage of the island but said that it planned to reach its goal of a sustainable future through education and awareness campaigns and events.
anwar@thenational.ae
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Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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