Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) has signed a Joint Project Development Agreement with Etihad Airways to facilitate the development of the first Waste-to-Sustainable Aviation Fuel (WtF) plant in the Middle East Region.
On completion, the plant will have the potential to transform up to 4 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) every year into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), said a statement from the company.
The SAF produced from the WtF plant in Abu Dhabi would be compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) standards for decarbonisation of the aviation sector. The plant will help Abu Dhabi to divert 75% of municipal waste away from landfills, it stated.
This plant will significantly contribute to the UAE’s actions on Climate Change. The UAE is the host of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28), it added.
According to Tadweer, the Waste-to-SAF plant is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 1 million tonnes annually – equivalent to the removal of more than 200,000 cars from the road.
"This agreement is aligned with Tadweer’s continued efforts to divert waste from landfills and harness technological innovations that are commercially viable to address the challenges posed by the treatment of large volume of waste," said its Director-General Dr Salem Al Kaabi.
Etihad Airways said it would be entering into a long-term SAF offtake agreement with Tadweer as the provider of feedstock waste under a long-term waste supply agreement.