Abu Dhabi waste-management company Tadweer Group said on October 22 that on-site work had begun on its new Material Recovery Facility (MRF). The company is developing the project with Spain-based environmental solutions firm Urbaser. This is an implementation milestone following the contract award announced in July: the October release reports site work starting, not a newly awarded project.

The facility has a stated design capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year, split equally between municipal solid waste and commercial and industrial waste. That is a forward-looking design figure, not waste currently processed or recovered. Tadweer scheduled operations to begin in the second quarter of 2028. Its October release did not provide a construction-completion percentage, a precise opening day, capital cost or measured annual recovery rate.

Tadweer’s July announcement said Urbaser would deliver construction and that, once the facility is operational, it would be managed for five years through a joint venture in which Urbaser holds 60% and Tadweer 40%. The October milestone does not announce a new contract or change that division of responsibilities; it reports progress at the site under the existing project. The companies did not detail the work package or contractor payment schedule in the October release.

The planned process will use automated sorting systems, optical technologies and artificial intelligence. Tadweer said these are intended to improve material separation and recovery, directing valuable materials towards recycling or further processing. The announcement did not provide performance guarantees, recovery percentages, expected output by material class or independent test results for the technology. AI is therefore a stated component of the facility design, not evidence of a measured increase in production.

The project is part of Tadweer’s broader EcoPark vision for integrated waste treatment and resource recovery. The company links the plan to converting waste into reusable materials and reducing landfill reliance. Tadweer executives said the project supports Abu Dhabi’s ambition to divert 80% of waste from landfill by 2031. That is an emirate-wide target; the company has not said the new MRF alone will reach that rate or quantified its contribution.

This new greenfield Abu Dhabi facility is separate from Tadweer’s MRF upgrade project in Al Ain. The company reported that the Al Ain transformation reached a 50% milestone on October 7, with commissioning scheduled for late 2026 and commercial operations expected in early 2027. Both projects support resource recovery, but they concern different facilities at different stages. The October Abu Dhabi announcement records the start of site work, not facility capacity being used or waste-diversion results already achieved.