Emirates Biotech and UAEU Jointly Build a Pilot Plant for Organic Waste Resource Recovery

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Emirates Biotech, a UAE-based biomaterials company, and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) have launched a joint research project to build the UAE's first integrated organic waste resource recovery pilot plant in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi. The two parties will be jointly responsible for the design, construction, and operation of the project. Once completed, the plant will be able to process up to 40 kilograms of organic waste per day, with mixed food waste and compostable packaging materials as the main feedstocks, converting them into renewable biogas and nutrient-rich compost.

The project period runs from August 2026 to August 2028, with installation and commissioning of the plant scheduled for completion by August 2027. The process route consists of two parts: anaerobic digestion and composting. Organic waste first undergoes anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, and the digestate then enters the composting stage to form nutrient-rich compost suitable for soil improvement. The project will also conduct laboratory-scale research to assess the technical feasibility of further converting biogas into renewable hydrogen.

The project site is located near UAEU's Al Ain campus. In addition to Emirates Biotech and UAEU, industry chain organizations including Emirates Environmental Group, Hotpack, VerraPak under AW Rostamani Group, Tadweer Group, University of Sharjah, and Pacogreen also participated in the project launch. During the two-year operation period, the research team will focus on evaluating the plant's process stability, environmental benefits, and economic viability, and will generate the technical and operational parameters needed for subsequent scale-up construction.

Emirates Biotech disclosed that food waste accounts for nearly 40% of the UAE's daily municipal solid waste, a considerable portion of which is still disposed of through landfilling. The pilot project will validate the engineering pathway for co-processing food waste and compostable packaging. According to the company's estimates, if scaled up in the future, integrated organic waste resource recovery facilities could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to about 89% compared with direct landfilling, and are expected to lead to a modular scale-up solution.