Calls to introduce 'pay as you throw' scheme in the Gulf

Source: Arabian Business

30-5-2007

By: Tom Daly

An environmental expert has called on the region's municipalities to consider introducing a scheme whereby residents are charged for the amount of waste they generate, much like they are charged for power and water today.

Addressing a waste and water conference in Dubai this week, Professor Dr. Ismail Mohammed Al-Madani, a director general of the Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wild Life in Bahrain, suggested introducing the ‘pay as you throw' (PAYT) scheme due to today's high costs of waste management, the increasing amount of waste generated and difficulty in finding waste disposal sites.

"I do not think the flat rate is effective," said Al-Madani. "All the municipalities go for it because it means they do not have to think and they do not have to work. You have to see what suits you as a pricing system."

Though the scheme promotes recycling, public awareness and environmental sustainability, Al-Madani accepted it would have its own disadvantages, such as encouraging the compression of waste, overly heavy bags and illegal dumping.

Al-Madani cited recent coverage of the PAYT concept around the world, pointing out that it had been adopted in the USA, Germany, Sweden and Italy, among other countries. How attractive the scheme would be to GCC municipalities remains to be seen.