Tadweer breaks ground on 400,000-tonne Abu Dhabi recovery facility

Abu Dhabi, UAE - Tadweer Group has begun on-site works at Abu Dhabi's greenfield Material Recovery Facility (MRF), a waste sorting plant able to handle 400,000 tonnes a year that Urbaser is delivering.

Tadweer Group said the plant will expand the emirate's ability to recover resources from waste and help move Abu Dhabi towards a circular economy.

Tadweer Group's chief executive, Etienne Petit, and senior Urbaser representatives marked the occasion at a ceremony. Urbaser is an international environmental solutions company.

Half of that yearly intake, 200,000 tonnes, will be municipal solid waste. The other 200,000 tonnes will be commercial and industrial waste.

Operations are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2028. Inside, the plant will run automated sorting systems with artificial intelligence and advanced optical technologies, which the company said will separate materials better, lift recovery efficiency and send less to landfill.

Etienne Petit, Chief Executive Officer of Tadweer Group, said: “The commencement of works on this facility marks an important step in translating Abu Dhabi’s circular economy ambitions into tangible infrastructure. Through our partnership with Urbaser, we are combining advanced technologies with international operational expertise to strengthen resource recovery at scale. This project will play an important role in supporting Abu Dhabi’s ambition to divert 80% of municipal solid waste away from landfill by 2031, while creating long-term environmental and economic value.”

Urbaser won the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the facility in July 2026. Tadweer Group described the award as part of its commitment to building an integrated waste management system that gets the most value out of what is thrown away.

Rafael Guinea, Waste Treatment General Director of Urbaser, said: “We are proud to partner with Tadweer Group in delivering this important infrastructure project for Abu Dhabi. The facility will bring together advanced sorting technologies and our international expertise in waste treatment and resource recovery to support a more efficient and sustainable waste management system. Today’s milestone represents an important step towards delivering a facility that will strengthen material recovery capabilities and contribute to Abu Dhabi’s long-term circular economy ambitions.”

Valuable materials pulled out at the MRF will go on for further processing. The plant is one part of a wider, integrated waste management system for the emirate that also takes in Abu Dhabi's Waste-to-Energy infrastructure.

When the contract was announced in July, recovered materials were earmarked for reuse or for further processing at the Waste-to-Energy facility then under development in Abu Dhabi. That deal covers both building and operating the plant.

Urbaser is responsible for the construction phase. Once the MRF opens, a joint venture will manage it for five years, in which Urbaser owns 60% and Tadweer Group owns 40%.

According to Tadweer Group, its partnerships and continued spending on advanced infrastructure are building up Abu Dhabi's waste management capabilities and supporting a more resource-efficient, circular economy.

Initial geophysical surveys at the site are complete. Work has moved on to ground investigation, with crews mobilising and setting up the site before the next phase of construction.