Public Policy Document

The UAE’s Industrial Waste Valuation Policy, issued in 2022 with the aim of enhancing the competitive edge of UAE products by providing local production inputs and reducing the dependence of national industry on fluctuations in global waste prices and shipping costs.

The Industrial Waste Valuation Policy will help reduce carbon emissions and contribute to achieving the UAE’s formal commitments to international agreements on reducing carbon emissions, such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as part of the UAE’s Green Growth Strategy, the UAE’s Circular Economy Policy, and the UAE’s target to reduce its carbon footprint.
 

1. Create a balance between supply and demand and control them based on local market data, hence allowing national industrial establishments the opportunity to use these waste materials in their recycling industries.
2. Ensure the sustainability of industrial waste collection and disposal facilities, as well as waste recycling companies.
3. Manage and directly control the industrial waste market, keeping in mind the needs of UAE manufacturing and industrial facilities.
4. Provide industrial establishments with industrial waste to help them achieve their economic and environmental goals.
5. Provide national manufacturing and industrial facilities with greater bargaining power to purchase locally produced industrial waste instead of importing it from foreign suppliers at high prices.

1. Provide industrial and manufacturing facilities with locally produced industrial waste from the national market at reasonable and affordable prices to enhance the competitiveness of national products. 
2. Help waste management facilities in the UAE to achieve their key objectives to cultivate a clean environment and have a positive impact on natural resources. 
3. Ensure proper waste treatment and increase waste sorting and processing operations for reuse within the circular economy.
    

1. Reduction of industrial waste exports abroad, for example, reducing iron waste exports from 1.4 million tons to less than 300,000 tons, paper waste from 400,000 tons to less than 50,000 tons, and cooking oils exports from 90% to less than 20%.
2. Increase in the percentage of local industrial waste usage within the final product.
3. Reduction of industrial waste imports from abroad, where local waste can replace imported waste, equivalent to the percentage of local waste usage. For instance, using 1.5 million tons of scrap iron can offset the import of 2.2 million tons of iron ore.
4. Reduction in production costs for manufacturing establishments, as using scrap iron reduces production costs from approximately 1,773 AED (486 USD) per ton to around 1,613 AED (442 USD) per ton.
5. Utilization of industrial waste will have positive impacts on reducing carbon emissions, as between 2011 and 2021, 12,463,000 liters of cooking oil were recycled into biofuel, helping to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 33,089,265 kg of CO2.

Industrial manufacturing facilities that manufacture iron scrap, paper waste, used cooking oils, raw leather, scrap and waste electrical and electronic equipment, air tire waste, solid plastic waste, aluminum waste, and copper scrap as a source for production materials, exporters, UAE waste recycling facilities, and industrial waste collection and disposal facilities.