Dubai is constructing the world’s biggest waste-to-energy facility which will generate enough power for 135,000 homes by converting 1.9 million tons of waste to clean energy every year.

According to an announcement by the Dubai Municipality, the project owner, around 85 per cent of work is now complete at the Dubai Waste Management Centre (DWMC) being built in the emirate’s Al Warsan area.

The first-of-its-kind project is expected to convert 45 per cent of Dubai’s municipal waste into renewable energy and contribute to the civic body’s goal of diverting all waste from landfills by 2030.

Initial operations are slated to start at the facility by early 2023, while the plant will run at full capacity after its scheduled completion in 2024.

Dawood Abdul Rahman Al-Hajri, director-general of Dubai Municipality said: “Dubai has always sought to be a pioneer in the field of waste-to-energy. By reducing the amount of solid waste and providing alternative sources for generating clean energy, the project will contribute to achieving a sustainable and eco-friendly model of waste management.”

When fully operational, the DWMC is projected to feed Dubai’s local electricity grid with 215MWh of clean energy. In the early stage of its operations in 2023, however, when two of its five treatment lines are running, it will be able to produce 80MWh of renewable energy while processing 2,000t of solid waste.

The facility will receive around 1,000 truckloads of waste daily and have the capacity to accommodate 88 trucks per hour.

When all of its five treatment lines are operational, the DWMC will be able to process 5,666t of solid municipal waste per day. The burnt waste will produce around 1,000t of bottom ash, which will be recycled and used in infrastructure projects.

According to the Dubai civic body, the DWMC will employ state-of-the-art Japanese and Swiss technologies for the treatment process to ensure emissions are environmentally friendly and odour-free.