Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) places significant emphasis on introducing employees to the principles of the circular economy and encouraging them to adopt sustainable behaviours.

These efforts have led to DEWA employees recycling 499,541 plastic bottles and aluminium cans from October 2022 until the end of December 2023. This is equivalent to diverting 7,108 kilograms of waste from landfills.

DEWA provides smart machines to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans in some of its buildings. These machines are operated using DEWA’s Smart Office app for employees.

The machine reads the QR code on the smart app, and the employee receives points for each recycling operation to enter into a raffle draw to win valuable monthly prizes. Until the end of 2023, DEWA honoured 49 employees.

DEWA’s recycling initiatives support the UAE Circular Economy Policy and DEWA’s Circular Economy Strategy by focusing on optimising the use of resources and enriching social, economic, and environmental value.

This is achieved by encouraging sustainable practices including recycling resources and reducing waste.

These efforts also support the Dubai Integrated Waste Management Strategy 2021-2041, which seeks to encourage innovation in waste management and recycling as well as converting waste to energy, in addition to providing practical solutions to environmental challenges.

DEWA organised 13 awareness activities for employees to highlight the importance of adopting a responsible and sustainable lifestyle by implementing sustainable practices at home and in the workplace, enhancing the efficiency of electricity and water consumption, limiting waste, reducing the consumption of plastic, and reusing and recycling plastic bottles and aluminium cans.