Health and Safety Information Bulletin 09: Waste Management

Sources and types of waste

Waste is classified by the Dubai Municipality as follows:

• General waste - A. Domestic waste - It includes food wastes paper, cardboard, plastics, textiles, leather, yard wastes, wood, glasses, tin cans, aluminium, other metals, household special wastes, etc
• General waste - B. Bulky waste - Waste materials which cannot be appropriately placed in normal waste containers because of either their bulky size, shape or other physical attributes. E.g. large worn-out or broken household /commercial furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, consumer electronics, appliances, furnitures, white goods, etc
• General waste - C. Institutional Commercial Industrial (ICI)- Non-hazardous solid waste. E.g. waste paper. cardboard, plastics, wood, food wastes, glass, metals, special wastes
• Construction and demolition waste
• Horticultural waste
• Hazardous waste

Waste containers

• Waste must be placed in appropriate containers and stored in refuse sacks for collection
• Loose or unsecured waste accumulation is not permitted
• Waste containers should be strong, robust, leakproof and clearly labelled on at least two sides
• A designated area should be provided to store containers
• They could be kept tidy and lids kept closed where applicable
• No hazardous waste or any other liquid waste (e.g. used oil, sludge, etc.) is to be placed inside the container

Waste collection

• Organic waste containers should be emptied at least three times a week and containers with non-organic contents at least once a week.
• The frequency of collection/emptying must be adjusted to prevent waste overflow and in response to public complaints and odour pollution
• Appropriate times for waste collection should be selected to minimise disturbance to the public
• Only Dubai Municipality approved providers should be used to collect waste
• Waste disposal records shall be maintained

Waste segregation

The separation of materials at the point of collection makes it easier and less costly for recycling facilities to process and recover. Bin Colour coding for 3 bins or more to be segregated as follows: