UAE sole Arab winner of 2023 UN-Habitat award for serving SDG11

19 / 08 / 2023

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• Sustainable Development

The UAE was the sole Arab winner of the 2023 UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award which one of the most prestigious awards that recognizes initiatives or individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field sustainable urbanization, and for improving the quality of urban life.

The UAE’s Dubai Municipality won the award for establishing and implementing the Fat, Oil and Grease Waste Recycling Program (FOG) to deal with waste material from the hospitality industry.

 The program transforms waste into valuable resources, promoting circular economy and environmental sustainability in a water scarce context.

Thousands (i.e over 8000) of restaurants/ hotels process food in large quantities and an equal amount of Fat, oil and grease ( FOG) waste is dumped down the drains. FOG cause major problems to drains and sewers when disposed of down the kitchen sinks or drains cause blockages and when they enter rainwater pipes or gullies, they cause pollution in streams and rivers.

In order to overcome this issue, Dubai Municipality (DM), and M/s Al Serkal group established a FOG waste recycling facility in year 2008/2009 on Boot basis for 25 years which recycles Fog waste from hotels, restaurants and food processing industries. In fact, this project has achieved environmental sustainability and promoted circular economy and has created awareness in the region as well employed more professionals within department to manage proper collection /disposal of FOG waste at facility. Some 50 professionals are directly employed by M/s Al Serkal envirol facility to manage operation of plant and is being expanded and extended to other emirates which will create more job opportunities.

All the winning candidates were examples of best practice initiatives and achievements that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

This year, UN-Habitat received more than 80 nominations including individuals, organizations and projects originating from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The selection committee shortlisted 59 submissions.

Mexico, Brazil, Sierra Leone, Portugal and the UAE were the winners this year.

“We have five impressive winners this year. I want to congratulate them and thank them for their contribution to address stubborn urban challenges,” said UN-Habitat’s Executive Director, Maimunah Mohd Sharif. “So long as we keep our feet rooted to the ground, invest in innovative solutions that are cost-effective and scale them up, our urban future will be sustainable.”