Category Archives: Middle East

An Interview with Paper Bag Boy of Abu Dhabi

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Abdul Muqeet, also known as the Paper Bag Boy, has risen from being just another ordinary boy to an extraordinary environmentalist spearheading the fight against climate change in United Arab Emirates. Ten-year old Abdul Muqeet has demonstrated remarkable commitment to saving the environment and has won numerous awards including the prestigious Abu Dhabi Award. Here the Paper Bag Boy (PBB) talks to Salman Zafar, Founder of EcoMENA, about various aspects of waste management scenario in UAE: SZ: You are considered as the ‘recycling face’ of Abu Dhabi because of your wonderful achievements. Can you give an idea of the prevalent waste management … Continue reading →

Attitudes towards Waste Management – The Case in Oman

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Responses to the Oman waste management questionnaire were interesting, enlightening, and often unexpected. The Omani interviewees gave thoughtful answers and additional insights and opinions that stemmed from their sociocultural backgrounds as well as from their individual experiences. Often, statements and assertions from these respondents were found to be corroborated by evidence from other types of research, such as the study on the composition of refuse found in dumpsites in Muscat, or the feeding habits of camels cited earlier. Food waste On the topic of food waste, respondents generally had a strong belief that such waste was immoral. When asked about … Continue reading →

Biomass Energy in Jordan

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Jordan has promising biomass energy potential in the form of municipal solid wastes, crop residues and organic industrial wastes.  Municipal solid wastes represent the best source of biomass in Jordan. In terms of quantity per capita and constituents, the waste generated in Jordan is comparable to most semi-industrialized nations. Agricultural biomass offers a low energy potential due to arid climate in most of the country. The major biomass energy resources in Jordan are: Municipal waste from big cities Organic wastes from slaughterhouse, vegetable market, hotels and restaurants. Organic waste from agro-industries Animal manure, mainly from cows and chickens. Sewage sludge … Continue reading →

Plastic Waste Management in UAE

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Plastics are an inseparable part of modern society. However, their safe disposal is a big and highly challenging issue. A typical UAE resident uses 450 plastic water bottles on an average in a single year1. With the equivalent of 43 gallons on an average per person in 2011, the United Arab Emirates had the fourth-highest level of bottled water consumption in the world. A whopping 11 billion plastic bags are used annually, according to statistics from UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water. This goes on to add up to an annual overall waste of 912.5 kilogram per capita2, 3, and 4. These … Continue reading →

نصائح لتقليل النفايات الغذائية

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تبذير الطعام له آثار بيئية واقتصادية وكذلك الاجتماعية.  ارتفاع نصيب الفرد من الدخل والإنفاق، ومستويات المعيشة، القدرة على تحمل التكاليف و اللامبالاة تجاه الطعام كلها عوامل لها تأثير سلبي كبير على مواردنا المحدودة. في مراكز التسوق والمطاعم على سبيل المثال ، من الشائع أن نرى كميات متراكمة من الطعام غير المستهلك كليا أو جزئيا. للأسف، الرفاهية تؤدي إلى تفشي  توليد النفايات الغذائية في جميع أنحاء الشرق الأوسط، وخاصة دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي. خطورة الوضع يمكن قياسها من كون أن أكثر من 300 طن من النفايات الغذائية يتم توليدها يوميا  في البحرين وهذا يشكل حوالي 11٪ من إجمالي  نفايات البلدية . … Continue reading →

Future Water Scenarios in GCC

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Water is an important vector in the socio-economic development and for supporting the ecosystem. In the arid to extremely arid Arabian Peninsula, home of the GCC countries, the importance and value of water is even more pronounced. The GCC countries of United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, are facing the most severe water shortages in the world.  Rainfall scarcity and variability coupled with high evaporation rates have characterized this part of the world with a limited availability of renewable water.  However, the scarcity of renewable water resources is not the only distinctive characteristic of the region, … Continue reading →

Food Waste Woes in Qatar

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Food waste is a huge issue in Qatar. In 2012, a massive 1.4 million metric tonnes of food was consumed and wasted in Qatar. This figure, divided by the then population of 2.05 million, equates to an average of 636 kilograms (kg) of food per person for the year, or 1.74 kg per day. Given the benchmark of two kg per person per day (preferably nutritious fare that does not contain too many kilojoules), that does not sound too excessive. But if you remove the young, elderly, short-term visitors/workers and people who consume less than two kg per day from the … Continue reading →

التحديات البيئة لقطاع الطاقة في المملكة العربية السعودية

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بالرغم من جهود المجتمع الدولي والعلماء المختصين بالبيئة في سبيل تقليل الاعتماد على الوقود الاحفوري كمصدر رئيسي للطاقة واستبداله بمصادر نظيفة ومنجددة للطاقة, الا ان الوقود الاحفوري والمتمثل بالنفط والغاز يبقى المصدر الرئيسي المعتمد والاكثر فاعلية. ونقلا عن فان الطلب العالمي على الوقود الاحفوري سيتزايد في المستقبل. ان معدل انتاج النفط والغاز قد تزايد تدريجيا منذ السبعينيات الى سنة 2020, وذالك تبعا للطلب المتزايد عليه. ان المشكل الرئيسي في الاعتماد على النفط والغاز كمصدر رئيسي للطاقة يكمن في نسبة التلوث البيئي الذي يخلفه هذا الوقود خلال انتاجه . على سبيل المثال, تطلق شركات النفط والغاز مايقارب 2000 طن من المواد … Continue reading →

التغير المناخي وقمة باريس: الإجماع البيئي العالمي

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مما لا شك فيه أن قمة المناخ في باريس أظهرت جليا مدى قوة الخطاب البيئي ودبلوماسية البيئة  وقدرتها على توحيد الأمم وقادة العالم والمجتمع المدني لحماية الأمن الأنساني-البيئي.هذا الإتفاق يقتضي إالتزامات من كافة الدول مثل التكيف وتخفيف آثار التغير المناخي ودعم الدول النامية ونقل التقنية النظيفة للحد من حرارة الكوكب بما لا يزيد عن درجتين مئويتين أو أقل لغاية  (1.5  للعام 2050.  لكن هذا الإتفاق بحاجة إلى استثمار (100 بليون سنويا بحلول عام 2020) من دول الشمال الصناعي تجاه العالم النامي حيث أن ما نسبته عشرة بالمئة من الدول الصناعية تساهم بما قيمته خمسين بالمئة من إنبعاثات غاز ثاتي أكسيد … Continue reading →

Environmental Challenges in Saudi Arabia’s Oil and Gas Industry

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Despite the efforts of global society and scientists to reduce the dependency on oil and gas as a main source of energy and find new green and renewable energy sources, the oil remains the most effective one. The oil production rate has increased incrementally from the 1970s to the 2020s, which is driven by the demand for oil. A Global Problem The main problem with the dependence on oil and gas as a primary source of energy lies in the huge pollution caused by the industry. For example, oil enterprises and petroleum companies currently release about 2000 tons of chemicals … Continue reading →

Food Waste, Ramadan and the Middle East

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With the holy month of Ramadan already underway, huge food wastage in the Middle East is again hogging limelight. It is a widely accepted fact that almost half of the municipal solid waste stream in the Middle East is comprised of food wastes and associated matter. The increasing amount of food wastage in Ramadan urgently demands a strong and holistic food management strategy to ensure its minimization, ethical utilization and eco-friendly disposal.   Food Waste in Ramadan Middle Eastern nations are acknowledged as being the world’s top food wasters, and during Ramadan the situation takes a turn for the worse. In the … Continue reading →

Mangroves in Qatar: Perspectives

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Mangroves are trees and shrubs that have adapted to life in a saltwater environment, usually found in the intertidal zone of a coastal or estuarine area. The halophyte characteristics of a mangrove tree allows it to grow in saline environments where no other tree can, thereby making significant contributions to the local ecosystem. Yet these reservoirs of “blue carbon” are seriously threatened. Across the globe, coastal ecosystems are currently being lost at a rate of about 2% a year – a staggering number when the carbon storage potential is considered. In a harsh desert environment such as Qatar, mangroves are one … Continue reading →