Circular economy models transform municipal waste into energy and fertilizer

Global efforts to transition toward a circular economy are increasingly focusing on converting municipal waste into valuable resources such as fertilizer and energy. In Tiên Điền, Vietnam, a pilot model in Hòa Thuận village encourages residents to sort organic waste at the source. This practice allows households to compost food scraps and plant matter into fertilizer, reducing the volume of waste requiring transport and processing.

In the United Arab Emirates, the Bee’ah complex in Sharjah utilizes advanced sorting lines to separate plastics, metals, paper, and cardboard for reuse in production. Non-recyclable materials are diverted to waste-to-energy plants rather than landfills. Similarly, in Uzbekistan, while 15 million tons of municipal waste are generated annually, only about 5% to 6% is currently recycled, with the majority directed to landfills such as the 24-hectare site near Tashkent.