DUBAL hosts green day

“Zero harm to people and the environment”. This is a fundamental tenet at Dubai Aluminium (“DUBAL”) – the entirely state-owned corporation that operates the world’s largest single-site primary aluminium smelter using pre-bake anode technology ¬– underscoring the priority placed by the business on sustainable practices. It’s also the inspiration behind a special Green Day event, held at DUBAL’s Jebel Ali site on 12.12.2012 as part of DUBAL Environment Week. Promoted using the slogan “Think green, Act green”, the event focused on the importance of a green economy, in which income growth and employment opportunities are generated by entities that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, improve energy and resource efficiency, avoid the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Accordingly, the agenda highlighted global issues relating to energy and water consumption, sustainable building and transportation practices, effective waste management (targeting zero waste to landfill) and responsible agriculture. One of the key activities in the programme entailed a ceremony to honour eleven employees who completed 30 years’ service at DUBAL in 2012. In addition to receiving individual certificates attesting to their contributions to the corporation, each celebrant planted a commemorative tree (Ficus nitida) in a dedicated area within DUBAL’s premises. This is the fourth year that DUBAL has recognized employees achieving this long service milestone – the first occasion coinciding with DUBAL’s 30th anniversary in 1979. To date, a total of 143 employees have worked at DUBAL for three decades; and their 143 trees hold pride of place in the green belt established at DUBAL. DUBAL Environment Week also featured representatives of the company attending a presentation on zero waste to landfill at Bee’ah, Sharjah. Here valuable exposure was obtained on the waste management system adopted by Bee’ah – specifically the organization’s recycling initiatives, modern waste management technologies and strategies to achieve zero waste to landfill.