Emirates Environmental Group collects 6,023kg of cans

The Emirates Environmental Group yesterday collected 6,023 kilograms of aluminium cans, reaching a total amount collected this year to 23,123kg.

The target set for this year is 25,000kgs. An organiser pointed out yesterday that the opportunity is not lost for those who would still like to participate and show their commitment to the protection of the environment.

Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group, stated that the large number of participants for the event constitutes the growth of the spirit of volunteerism in the community.

“The students this year went above and beyond with the effort they put in to collect cans from homes, schools, parks and restaurants. This simple action gave a great result in that awareness was spread about the importance of recycling. Hopefully, more and more schools will join this nationwide campaign and also begin their own individualised environmental initiatives, set goals and targets that only get bigger with time,” she said.

Habiba said that the campaign for the aluminium can collection is the first recycling programme implemented by the Waste Management sector of Emirates Environmental Group. he campaign has grown, expanded, and flourished since its inception in 1997.

Tonnes of aluminium cans end up in landfills by the day, but due to the campaign’s iniatives, that quantity has been reduced. She said that recycling aluminium cans is actually a process which does not require much energy. Yet, approximately only 5 per cent of the cans sold in the country goes for recycling and the rest goes to landfills.