Aldar Properties PJSC (Aldar), Tadweer (Abu Dhabi Waste Management Company) and Polygreen have formed a joint venture to launch Ecoloop. The circular model is the first-of-its-kind in the region, will divert waste across Aldar's owned and managed assets from the landfill, and transform it into valuable resources. The signing of the joint venture was made on the sidelines of COP28.

The partnership supports Tadweer's target to divert 80% of Abu Dhabi's waste away from landfills by 2030, as well as Aldar's Net Zero Plan - a commitment launched in January 2023 to become a net zero carbon business by 2050, in line with the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative. Each year, Aldar's assets produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste. The waste costs an annual AED 10 to 15 million to collect and send to landfills, resulting in an estimated 32,500 tonnes of CO emissions being released into the atmosphere each year.

Ecoloop will apply principles of a circular economy in diverting all municipal solid waste from landfills to treat and convert it into by-products, which will then be sold through off-take agreements. Under this new circular model, the waste collected will be segregated across four new transfer stations, and delivered to the new Circular Park in Al Ghadeer, Abu Dhabi. A unique feature of the segregation process is the wide range of waste products that can be recycled ­ from materials such as plastic and glass, to energy recovery, wood processing, and biogas processing.

This project supports the Abu Dhabi Waste Management strategy under the Environment Agency ­ Abu Dhabi.