Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
Abu Dhabi is stepping up its waste-to-energy push with a planned facility set to convert non-recyclable waste into 80 megawatts of electricity – enough to power around 52,000 homes.
This forms part of Tadweer Group's efforts to recover more value from waste and reduce landfill dependence while strengthening the emirate's resource and energy security.
“Waste-to-energy can add a dependable source of electricity to Abu Dhabi’s energy mix while addressing the need to manage residual waste,” Etienne Petit, Chief Executive Officer of Tadweer Group told Aletihad in a recent interview.
“Its strategic value comes from delivering both services through the same infrastructure,” he explained.
Once operational, the upcoming Al Bihouth waste-to-energy facility will have the capacity to process approximately 900,000 tonnes of waste annually, recovering energy from materials that cannot be practically reused or recycled.
Alongside energy recovery, Tadweer is expanding its capacity to sort and recycle waste through two major materials recovery projects. The upgraded Al Ain Materials Recovery Facility is expected to begin commercial operations in early 2027, with the capacity to process 400,000 tonnes of municipal waste annually.
It is expected to divert approximately 60% of Al Ain’s municipal waste from landfill.
A second facility in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2028, with capacity to process another 400,000 tonnes annually, comprising 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 200,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste.
The Abu Dhabi facility will use AI-enabled sorting technology to improve material recovery and return more recyclable materials to industrial supply chains.
“Recycling returns valuable materials to supply chains, reducing demand for virgin resources and supporting local recycling and manufacturing businesses,” Petit said.
“Waste-to-energy complements this by recovering energy from suitable waste that cannot be recycled.”
Tadweer's approach, he added, prioritised waste prevention, reuse and recycling, with energy recovery reserved for suitable combustible materials that cannot be practically recycled.
The group is also upgrading its Al Ain facility to produce refuse-derived fuel from suitable waste, creating an additional route for energy recovery. “Our ambition is to support Abu Dhabi’s mandate of diverting 80% of waste from landfill by 2031,” Petit noted.
Tadweer’s broader waste recovery operations handled approximately 1.66 million tonnes of municipal solid waste in 2025, of which around 62,350 tonnes were recorded as treated.
Across all waste streams managed by the group, more than 3.5 million tonnes were diverted from landfills, representing an overall diversion rate of 37.7%.
As part of this transition, Tadweer is pursuing the phased closure of conventional municipal landfills and developing engineered landfills for waste that cannot be recovered.
“Environmentally, these approaches conserve natural resources and reduce reliance on landfill,” he said, adding that energy recovery could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared with landfilling biodegradable waste, particularly where methane was not effectively captured.
