The proposal

Segen (Dubai) and Earth Care Consulting (European DRS specialists, with implementation roles in the Lithuanian, Slovak, Austrian and Portuguese launches and a current advisory mandate to the UK Government) propose to design, finance, build and operate the UAE's national DRS as a public-private initiative under federal sponsorship and supervision:

• A small, fully refundable deposit - recommended reference AED 0.25 flat per container (non-binding) - applied at purchase and refunded in full on return;
• A national return network of 3,500 reverse vending machines plus ~5,500 manual and HoReCa collection points - approximately 9,000 return points, one per ~1,250 residents;
• Three counting and sorting centres (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah/Northern Emirates) and a central clearing platform registering every eligible container, deposit transaction and recycled tonne;
• Producer funding: recommended fees of AED 0.20 / 0.08 / 0.24 per PET / aluminium / glass container (non-binding), calibrated for steady-state cost recovery with an annual statutory fee review;
• Governance: a single, not-for-profit Deposit System Operator under two-ministry supervision, with all deposit funds held as pass-through liabilities in transparent escrow. Segen earns zero from unredeemed deposits.

Headline numbers

All figures per the study's financial model (R7 assumptions memo, 2026). The year-1 deposit float (~AED 935 million gross) is escrowed consumer money - a memo item, never revenue. PET volumes are modelled, pending producer/importer validation.

Strategic alignment

• UAE Circular Economy Policy 2021-2031 - delivers the policy's missing operational loop: clean, food-grade recyclate returned to domestic manufacturing, with a ready-made governance home in the Circular Economy Council.
• Net Zero 2050 and NDC 3.0 (-47% GHG by 2035) - a quantified, annually reported waste-sector contribution with audit-grade MRV data under the 2024 Climate Change Law.
• The 2025 MOCCAE-Tadweer EPR pilot - the DRS nests directly into the pilot's producer-registration and reporting machinery; DRS producer fees discharge EPR obligations for beverage containers, with no double-charging.
• Regional first mover - the first national, legislated DRS in the GCC; Abu Dhabi's EAD Bottle Return Scheme (23 million units collected in 2024, 100+ RVMs, 2,000+ tonnes recovered since launch) has already proven UAE consumer acceptance - without any deposit.

The ask

This study respectfully requests that the Ministry of Economy & Tourism and the Ministry of Climate Change & Environment:

• 1. Adopt the DRS as the beverage-container instrument of the national EPR framework, building directly on the 2025 MOCCAE-Tadweer pilot;
• 2. Sponsor enabling legislation - a Cabinet Resolution under Federal Law No. 12 of 2018 establishing the deposit, the system-operator licence and the escrow regime for unredeemed deposits; international experience indicates 18-24 months from political decision to go-live, supporting a 2028 national launch;
• 3. Stand up a joint ministerial programme office in H2 2026 to run mobilisation (Phase 0);
• 4. Convene producers, importers and retailers into a design working group under the UAE Circular Economy Council;
• 5. Commission validation of container volumes through mandatory producer/importer SKU-level reporting before fees are fixed.

Why Segen x Earth Care

• Local architect, proven implementer. Segen brings UAE alliance architecture and principal representation; Earth Care has designed and launched national deposit systems across 15+ countries - including Lithuania, the closest design template to the UAE proposal (92.3% return rate, built in under two years).
• A binding financial pledge. Zero income from unredeemed deposits - stated in Segen's own Project Description and hard-wired into not-for-profit governance, statutory escrow and independent audit.
• Financeable without public subsidy. 60/40 debt/equity on the Romanian green-loan precedent; Segen commits AED 150 million; the system pays back by 2031 and operates at cost recovery under a transparent annual fee review.
• A complete, decision-ready package. Market research, 60-jurisdiction benchmark evidence, a draft legislative outline, a formula-driven financial model, an implementation roadmap and a 14-item risk register - all delivered in the accompanying Master Study.

The window is now. The 2026 plastics ban has cleared the field; the EPR pilot has built the regulatory machinery; consumer behaviour is proven at pilot scale. A national DRS is the logical - and financially self-sustaining - next act of the UAE's circular-economy agenda.

Key exhibits

Selected charts from the Master Study exhibit set (all figures per R7/R8) and concept illustrations from the design package.

Exhibit 1 - Global return rates. Deposit systems achieve a 91% median return rate against sub-50% for kerbside collection. European benchmark operations - Lithuania at 92.3% is the closest design template to the UAE proposal.

Exhibit 2 - The race to 90%. Recent launches (Romania, Hungary, Austria, Ireland, Slovakia, Malta) reached 80-89% within two years; the UAE ramp is deliberately moderated. European benchmark operations - Lithuania reached 74% in its first year.

Exhibit 3 - Money flows and the escrow barrier. Deposit funds are pass-through liabilities held in transparent escrow (Slovakia model); unredeemed balances accrue to a system reserve, never to Segen.

Exhibit 4 - CAPEX breakdown. AED 664m total: RVM fleet 385, centres 108, IT 30, vehicles 40, setup 45, contingency 56 - approximately AED 59 per resident.

Exhibit 5 - Cash-flow curve 2026-2037. Peak funding AED 294m in 2028; payback 2031; system IRR 27.7%, NPV @8% +AED 349m.

Exhibit 6 - Scenarios. Conservative 2.5% / Base 27.7% / Optimistic 67% IRR; the fee-review mechanic restores cost recovery at the conservative boundary and returns surplus at the optimistic boundary.

Exhibit 7 - Statutory return-rate path. 55% in year 1 rising to 90% by 2034-35, moderated from the fastest European launches for network build-out and first-in-region status.

Exhibit 8 - Implementation roadmap. 18-24 months from political decision to go-live supports a 2028 national launch; phases 0-4 with statutory milestones.

Concept Illustration

CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION - National network design. Diagrammatic (not to scale): RVM clusters sized by estimated population and the three planned counting and sorting centres (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah/Northern Emirates).

Concept Illustration

CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION - Segen-branded RVM. Flat-vector front elevation; the AED 0.25 deposit value shown is illustrative, subject to scheme design.

Concept Illustration

CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION - The consumer loop. Buy, return, refund, recycle: deliberately simple for consumers, rigorous for industry.

Concept Illustration

CONCEPT ILLUSTRATION - Phased rollout option. Diagrammatic: Phase 1 (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) from 2028, Phase 2 (Northern Emirates) from 2030 - indicative planning years, not confirmed dates.