Dubai: Dubai will charge disposal fees based on the weight of the waste going to landfills and treatment plants from May, the civic body announced on Wednesday.

Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, has issued a decree on the waste disposal fees and fines in Dubai that will come into effect from May 17, the civic body said in a press release.

According to the decree, the fees for disposing various types of waste per tonne have been set for three years, with a Dh5 to Dh10 increase every year till 2020. The fees in 2020 will continue beyond that year, the figures released by the municipality showed. For example, municipal waste going to landfills will be charged Dh80 per tonne in 2018, Dh90 in 2019 and Dh100 in 2020 and beyond. If it is organic waste going to treatment plants, the fees will be Dh30 per tonne in 2018, Dh40 in 2019 and Dh50 in 2020 and beyond.

Similarly, recyclable materials sent to sorting stations will be charged Dh30, Dh40 and Dh50 per tonne, respectively, if they are mixed with organic waste and Dh20, Dh25 and Dh30 if they are free of organic waste.

The fee for agricultural waste has been kept constant at Dh10.

The fees for disposing unwanted materials such as papers, tapes, food stuff, spare parts, electrical devices etc, medical waste and hazardous items from industrial and commercial sectors have also been announced.

All these fees will be applicable on the waste generated by commercial establishments, factories, private and public institutions as well as residential communities and freehold properties belonging to developers that are served by private waste collection companies, a senior official told Gulf News.

Residential areas from where the municipality is currently collecting waste will be exempted from the fees, said Abdul Majeed Abdul Aziz Al Saifaie, director-general of the Waste Management Department.

“These fees will not be applicable to waste generated in residential areas covered by the municipality. But they are applicable to waste generated in residential properties of private developers who are using the service of private companies for waste disposal,” he said.

The municipality will be receiving these fees from the companies authorised to collect and transport the waste to its landfills and treatment plants.

Al Saifaie said the fees announced by Dubai are much cheaper compared to many other places.

He said the government setting fees for disposing waste at its facilities will help stop the practice of waste management companies overcharging building managements, in some cases as high as Dh300 per tonne.

“Since we have announced our fees, the waste collection companies involved in the service will have to match their service fees they collect from their clients with these. So, I believe this is going to benefit the commercial sector in Dubai since many building managements are already paying higher amounts to their service providers.”

He said the decree aims to encourage all categories and segments of the society to follow the best international practices adopted in the field of sustainable waste segregation and waste disposal.