DUBAI, (Pakistan Point News - 27th Feb, 2020) Schoolchildren, members of the corporate community and the hospitality industry lined up on Thursday morning to take part in the 24th cycle of Can Collection Day, where around 5,235 kg of aluminium cans were collected in a single day at designated collection points across the country.
Can Collection Day is an annual national event organised by the Emirates Environmental Group, EEG, the first-of-it-kind environmental NGO in the UAE, which was held under the motto, "Don’t throw it away. Recycle it for Another Day," this year.
The annual activity brought people from all walks of life together, entities in the UAE from both the private and public sectors, to join hands with the EEG to prevent used aluminium cans from going to landfills, which leads to environmental damage and causes carbon emission.
The activity is one measure the EEG has adopted to support the UAE’s quest to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its set target of Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, 11, 12, 13 and 17.
Today’s collection resulted in the mitigation of 78.5 MTCO2 emissions, saving 127 cubic metres of landfill, and 1,191 million BTU of energy. This brings the total collection to 6,943 kg, which is 38.5 percent of aluminium cans to be collected this year as per the target.
"I am so happy to see the community heeding to the call of environmental conservation by rolling up their sleeves and coming on board this action oriented activity to collect aluminium cans and ensuring they are recycled. This nationwide campaign fits very well with the national strategy of promoting the concept of a circular economy and aligns with several of the 17 United Nations SDGs," said Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Chairperson of EEG.
Can Collection Day 2020 is sponsored by Emirates Global Aluminium and supported by Dubai Municipality, Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, Dubai Tourism and American International school in Abu Dhabi.
