Coinciding with World Environment Day, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and ADNOC Distribution have jointly inaugurated a reverse vending machine (RVM) initiative. The recycling facility will be rolled out across 400 ADNOC retail service stations.
Major retailers, including Carrefour, Lulu, Abu Dhabi Coops, Choithrams, Spinneys, Waitrose and Spar are also supporting the initiative.
The initiative targets the recovery of 50 percent of single-use plastic water bottles consumed in the emirate, which amounts to 7,500 tonnes. The installation of smart recovery infrastructure including Return Vending Machines (RVMs), smart bins and other door-to-door collection applications will help achieve the target.
Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD, said: “We recently announced the remarkable success of the first year of our single-use plastic bag ban. To complement this success, we are always introducing similar initiatives for the reduction of single-use plastic in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
“This bottle recovery initiative aims to dramatically recover single-use plastic bottles that harm our environment. This is because it takes 450 years for a single-use plastic bottle to degrade, which means that our terrestrial and marine environments will be filled with microplastic, affecting biodiversity, our ecosystems, and most importantly, human health.
“We are working with different organisations to increase the quantities of bottles collected and ensure their recycling. We will be deploying, starting this month, the needed bottle recovery infrastructure in partnership with key stakeholders. Our target is to enable recycling of over one million single-use plastic water bottles per day.”
Incentivised recycling with RVMs in Abu Dhabi
The RVMs are part of an incentive-based recovery scheme, under which ADNOC customers can now deposit used plastic bottles and aluminum cans in exchange for reward loyalty points that can be redeemed across ADNOC’s retail stations. Each machine automatically updates customers on the number of RVM deposits completed, allowing them to track their recycling efforts.
The RVM rollout across ADNOC’s retail station network will be completed in the next phase.
The EAD, under its ‘Mission to Zero’ outreach campaign, has been working with Veolia through its RECAPP initiative to deploy RVMs in prime locations with high footfall including malls, academic institutions, Abu Dhabi Corniche and other visitor attraction sites. EAD aspires to zero plastic, zero waste, zero emissions and zero harm to biodiversity.
Dr Al Dhaheri added: “We conducted a study to assess the best way to engage the community to foster a culture of recycling, and we found out that an incentive-based scheme would lead to the best results. Therefore, the RVMs will have an attractive incentive for consumers as we are aware that when individuals are rewarded for sustainable daily habits, they are motivated to do more.”
Bader Saeed Al Lamki, CEO, ADNOC Distribution, said: “By offering recycling opportunities at our ADNOC service stations, we are capturing a unique opportunity to involve our customers in our sustainability journey. In addition to minimising waste and recycling plastic and aluminum, the presence of RVMs will also raise awareness of important environmental issues with our customers.”
Each RVM will automatically send an electronic alert to a dedicated recycling collection agent once full to efficiently collect and transport bottles and cans to a local recycling center.
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