Despite opportunities offered by the increasing amount of waste in the region, the Middle East faces huge challenge due to the lack of a streamlined waste collection system leading of uncertainty of raw material as well, Rajnish Sinha, Business Head (Middle East/Africa), bansal Petrochem International, said in the second session of the day "Plastics Recycling in the Middle East". The region's first Paper and Plastics Recycling Conference was officially inaugurated by Dr. Mariam Al Shenasi, Acting Undersecretary of the Minister of Environment, United Arab Emirates, on behalf of Dr. Rashid Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water. Tarek Al Mousa, Chairman/ Managing Director, Metal & Recycling Company KSC, focused on the challenges of running a recycling plant while effectively maintaining the cash cycle as well. He pointed out the lack of a customer base for end- products made out of recycled material as one of the challenges in the local market, which leads to exporting rather than "closing the loop" in the region. Yazan El Jaouni, General Manager, Doha Plastic, stressed the importance of maintaining the quality of end products due to the lack of a pure steam of waste, where maintaining the color of the recycled granules or flakes is of paramount importance. In her opening address in the two-day event, Dr Mariam Al Shenasi drew the attention of the audience to the UAE's 2030 Sustainability Program "Estidama" and stressed the importance of recycling not only for paper and plastic, but for other commodities as well. Surendra Borad, Chairman, Plastics Committee, Bureau of International Recycling, and Gemini Corporation NV, Belgium, said "waste is an urban mine and should be treated like an urban mine. There are many business and employment opportunities within this sector. We are talking of a global recycling business of $500 billion which is increasing at a tremendous pace, every day." Knowing that the recycling business is not as developed in the Middle East as it is in other parts of the world, Borad was delighted to see the turnout of delegates at the event, indicating a strong interest to learn more about the regional and global aspects of the paper and plastics recycling business. Organizations across the UAE have partnered in a project, Corporate Recycling Initiative to deal with the growing menace of plastic. With 119 partners, Masafi, the mineral and fresh juice player has spearheaded this endeavor. Masafi collects used bottles and sends them for recyling. Other leading players who are participants include HP, Imdaad. British Petroleum, Dubai Police, Khadamat Facilities Management and Emirates Golf Club. The scheme to collect and recycle bottles from companies was begun two years ago. Masafi collects plastic bottles from companies employing 200
