Middle East Construction
Work starts on Abu Dhabi's 400,000 tonne material recovery facility, due to open in 2028
By Staff Writer | 23 October 2026
Tadweer Group has begun on-site works on the emirate's first greenfield material recovery facility, which Urbaser is building to sort 200,000 tonnes of municipal waste and 200,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste a year.
Construction has started on a material recovery facility in Abu Dhabi that will be able to process 400,000 tonnes of waste a year. Tadweer Group, which manages waste across the emirate, marked the start of on-site works on Thursday 22 October at a ceremony attended by its chief executive, Etienne Petit, and senior staff from Urbaser, the international environmental services company delivering the plant.
The facility is the first of its kind in the emirate to be built on a greenfield site. It is scheduled to begin operating in the second quarter of 2028.
What the plant will do
The plant will take two waste streams in equal measure: 200,000 tonnes a year of municipal solid waste and 200,000 tonnes a year of commercial and industrial waste. Automated sorting systems, artificial intelligence and optical technology will identify materials across the streams and direct them to separate lines, so that recoverable material goes on to recycling and further processing and less goes to landfill.
Tadweer Group is part of L'IMAD Holding and is the sole body responsible for waste management in Abu Dhabi. The new facility will form part of its EcoPark, a complex that brings waste treatment, recycling and resource recovery together on one site, and will sit alongside the emirate's waste-to-energy infrastructure.
It reflects our focus on execution and our commitment to strengthening resource recovery at scale, supporting Abu Dhabi's ambition to divert 80 per cent of waste from landfill by 2031.
Etienne Petit, Chief Executive Officer, Tadweer Group
How the job is structured
Urbaser was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract in July 2026 and is responsible for the construction phase. Once the plant is running, it will be operated for five years by a joint venture in which Urbaser holds 60 per cent and Tadweer Group holds 40 per cent.
Initial geophysical surveys have been completed. Ground investigation, site mobilisation and site establishment are now under way as the project moves towards the main construction phase.
The diversion target the plant is meant to serve is 80 per cent of municipal solid waste kept out of landfill by 2031. Tadweer launched an AI-based collection platform, Tajmee'e, in 2025, and the recovery facility is the processing end of the same chain.
What it means for the supply chain
An EPC contract that runs straight into a five-year operating joint venture puts the contractor on the hook for how the plant performs as well as how it is built. For the designers and subcontractors behind it, that tends to mean tighter scrutiny of sorting equipment specifications, throughput testing and handover, because the party building the plant is also the party that has to run it.
For firms working in civil works, mechanical and electrical installation and process equipment in the emirate, a greenfield plant of this size means a run of work packages between now and the start of operations in 2028.