Masdar (Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company) is collaborating with Envyron Energy, a subsidiary of Alliances for Global Sustainability, to advance plastic-to-fuel technology, said a report.

The objective of this collaboration is to explore the further refinement of the plastic derived fuel produced by Envyron to up-cycle it into a transportation grade fuel, and was announced at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, held last month, reported state news agency Wam.

The partners also explored ways to further improve the existing technology through research and development programmes as well as pursue commercial-scale projects in the UAE and the Middle East and North Africa (Mena), it said.

Following the signing of a MoU between Masdar and Envyron in December, a plastic-to-fuel demonstration facility is being established at Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, with the aim of converting the city’s waste plastic into usable fuel and raise awareness of the importance of sustainable waste management.

Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the prominent sustainability advocate and owner of Alliances for Global Sustainability’s subsidiary, said that it was the UAE’s founder Sheikh Zayed who said that we must leave the land as we found it, or improve it.

She added that the collaboration between Envyron and Masdar pays tribute to his environmental legacy, also establishes a joint investment in the circular economy; reducing the amount of waste in our landfills and locally transforming waste plastic into energy.

According to the market intelligence provider Euromonitor International, less than half of waste plastic drinking bottles are collected for recycling globally, and only 7 per cent are turned into new bottles. The UAE aims to divert 75 per cent of its solid waste from landfill by 2021, added the report.