Dubai: Why Expo 2020 was the ‘most sustainable’ world fair in history

Dubai: Why Expo 2020 was the ‘most sustainable’ world fair in history

With the diversion of more than 90 per cent of cumulative waste collected before and during Expo 2020 Dubai from landfills, the event can be labelled as the most sustainable World Fair ever, according to Joelle Saab, Head of Expo 2020 Project at Dulsco, which was the Official Waste Management Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai.

During the six-month duration of the event, as well as during the construction period prior, more than 1.1 million tons of waste was generated at the Expo site. Of this, a vast proportion was recycled, upcycled, or repurposed to ensure the best waste management for the first-ever Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, said Saab.

Expo 2020 Dubai – the world's biggest event since the outbreak of Covid-19 – took place a year later than originally scheduled due to the pandemic. It recorded more than 24 million visitors between October 1 2021 and March 31 2022. The next edition will take place in Japan in 2025.

Ahead of Expo's launch, waste consisted mainly of construction or concrete debris, while during the event, a variety of waste items, including paper, glass, cans, and food waste, were recycled into different products. In addition, according