Emirates Biotech and United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) will build a pilot plant that turns food waste and compostable packaging into biogas and compost. The partners call it the country’s first integrated organic-waste valorisation plant.
The facility will sit near UAEU’s campus in Al Ain. It will process up to 40 kg of organic waste a day. The scale is small on purpose. The goal is to produce technical and operational guidelines that could support wider rollout in the UAE and beyond.
The plant pairs anaerobic digestion with composting. Digestion converts the waste into biogas. The remaining digestate is composted into a nutrient-rich soil product. A laboratory study will also test whether the biogas could become renewable hydrogen.
The project responds to a local waste problem. Food waste makes up nearly 40 per cent of the UAE’s daily municipal solid waste, and much of it goes to landfill. Plastic packaging soiled with food is hard to recycle. The team will test whether food waste and compostable packaging can be processed together.
Over two years, researchers will assess technical performance, environmental impact and economic viability. Installation and commissioning should finish by August 2027.
Emirates Biotech chief technology officer Dr Aman Kulshrestha called the project a novel integrated biorefinery concept. He said regional validation could change how the country approaches organic waste diversion and circularity.
Professor Zafar Said Sher, the UAEU project lead, said the pilot will test a practical end-of-life route for these materials. Students and researchers will take part, building local skills in waste-to-resource technologies.
The partners say a full-scale plant could cut CO2 emissions by 89 per cent compared with landfilling. The project aims to deliver a modular, scalable roadmap for converting food waste and compostable packaging into biogas and compost.
