I had earlier posted 2 reports about Bee'ah's RVM(Reverse Vending Machines) which accept plastic bottles and aluminium cans  for recycling and in turn give you rewards in terms of redeemable points voucher. These were introduced by Bee'ah in 2012. Located throughout the UAE, the machines are interactive, boast touch screen capabilities . I have been very regularly using these machines and had conducted a workshop /awareness session as well for it. I often thought if there were machines available for other recycleables as well . Bee'ah has come up with a solution for other recycleables .

Now one step ahead , In line with its mission to build a greener, more sustainable future in Sharjah, Bee'ah is installing the Middle East's first Reverse Vending Machines - supplied by UK-based Reverse Vending Corporation reVend - designed to collect and recycle domestic light bulbs and batteries across the U.A.E.

The integrated environmental and waste management organization Bee'ah is only the second company ever to spearhead this powerful initiative - making the U.A.E the second country in the world, after the UK, to adapt and apply this cutting-edge technology.

Bee'ah will be installing reVend Reverse Vending Machine units across the Emirates.

In recent years, with the amount of untreated waste growing at an alarming rate, recycling solutions for the lighting industry have garnered strong international interest. After all, used light bulbs often end up in landfills, which poses a significant danger to the environment and proves costly. The light bulb recycling machines from reVend will help to increase the U.A.E.'s recycling rates, keep hazardous waste out of the nation's landfills and help companies meet their environmental performance targets.

Light bulbs that are not energy efficient will be banned across the United Arab Emirates by the end of this year as the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (Esma) has expanded its range of efficiency standards to cover more electrical equipment and appliances. The new standards will require all light bulbs sold and used in the country to be eco-friendly as per the rating system. This would lead to an increased demand for CFL and LED light bulbs, in addition to an increased demand for recycling light bulbs and domestic batteries.

The reVend Reverse Vending Machines accept all domestic light Bulbs, including incandescent ones, CFLs, LEDs as well as any domestic batteries which contain valuable and scarce natural mineral resources or harmful materials such as lead and mercury.

Each light bulb is recognized by the machine's Video Recognition Technology from there, an easy-to-follow touch screen menu helps to guide the recycler through his/her eco-journey. Once the user completes the recycling process, he/she will receive a reward incentive voucher. Through the machine, recyclers will have the option of donating their loyalty points to charity organizations they can also be rewarded for their positive environmental efforts with redeemable points - as part of the my Bee'ah Loyalty programme.

The introduction of these ground-breaking Reverse Vending Machines is set to help Bee'ah further advance its goal of achieving zero-waste to landfill in Sharjah — an objective which will catapult the emirate into the Environmental Capital of the Middle East and make it the first Arab city ever to divert 100 per cent of its waste from landfill.

Sources :

http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/c7226b61-28ef-4cea-b948-482af0bf97cc.aspx

http://www.wam.ae/en/news/economics/1395268484998.html