By Hala Nasar
SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates– American University of Sharjah’s Environmental Science students were briefed on the facilities of Bee’ah, the environmental management company, during their Nov.16 trip.
Dr. Sandra Knuteson, senior lecturer in the Department of Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Sciences, organized the trip when a student in her ENV 100 course connected her with someone working in Bee’ah. As a result, 22 AUS students and faculty visited the headquarters of the company.
Knuteson said that while Bee’ah is a waste management company, they also recycle cars and tires. In addition, they have an education program and are working on a zero percent waste energy plant to decrease the waste that goes into landfills.
Satenik Sedrakyan, an International Studies student, meanwhile, said she was impressed how they always find wrongly discarded items.
“I found that if you throw out something like a passport or jewelry, and you call them on the exact same day or the next day, they will find it for you,” she said.
Both Knuteson and Sedrakyan noted the importance of people separating their waste when they throw it away to ensure maximum quality recycling.
In addition, AUS Sustainability Coordinator, Julia McAllister, said that much work is put into the management of waste and this affects the recycling process.
“Once anything you have gets thrown away, it doesn’t just automatically go into a landfill. It doesn’t just disappear. Somebody has to deal with it,” she added.
