No more plastic bottles – the UAE leads the way
Water is his life. And so it’s a funny coincidence that we’re talking to Ian Hannah about water on the very day when, for once, it’s raining in Dubai. Ian Hannah is sitting on his terrace and while the rain pours down, he talks about how valuable water is in the UAE and how he has turned the water business on eight golf courses in the United Arab Emirates on its head. Hannah, a native of Scotland, owns the company No More bottles, which deals with the avoidance of plastic bottles. “When I started working here in the UAE, I noticed how much plastic waste there was. It was unbelievable,” he recalls. Too much for him.
Al Hamra Golf Club pilot project
After founding No More Bottles, Hannah launched his first project to avoid plastic bottles on golf courses at Al Hamra Golf Club in 2019.
The water supply: In the United Arab Emirates, tap water is drinking water. This ensures that the golf courses are automatically connected to the drinking water supply. On site, only the distribution on the course and to the golfers needs to be arranged.
The need for water: “In Al Hamra, two to four bottles of water per round were provided free of charge for each player before the project was launched,” Hannah observed. These were 500 ml PET bottles. According to Ian Hannah, Al Hamra needed up to 400 bottles a day. The cost per bottle was borne by the club, which also had to organize the disposal of the bottles that were recycled. Supplying golfers with free bottles of water is therefore also a cost factor that should not be underestimated.
In addition, large water containers containing 4.5 liters were placed on the course for refilling water cups and bottles. These were made of polycarbonate and were not easily recyclable. Although they can be refilled around 35 times, they then become non-recyclable waste.
On the course: Al Hamra installed a central water container directly in the area of the carts, which is connected to the drinking water pipe. The drinking water is also cooled here and then poured into large containers that are set up all over the square. Al Hamra has twelve new containers that were purchased for this purpose.
In the clubhouse: Water dispensers in the clubhouse can also be used for drinking or for filling golfers’ bottles. Golfers can buy a refillable bottle for 30 dirhams (approx. 7.5 euros) or use their own bottle. Drinking water is free of charge.
The water quality: The fear that the drinking water in the containers will develop germs is unfounded, Hannah notes. “The flow rate in the containers is so high that the water is exchanged very quickly.” The water is also cooled. Germs generally only develop in stagnant water at temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius.
The reaction of the golfers: “The feedback from the golfers is excellent,” says Hannah. According to him, golfers in the United Arab Emirates no longer expect plastic bottles on golf courses. Even on golf courses that have not yet made a fundamental switch to no-plastic, the majority of golfers now use their own bottles.
The imitation effect: after the Al Hamra project was launched, seven other golf courses in the United Arab Emirates followed suit relatively quickly. The following courses have now dispensed with plastic bottles: Al Hamra GC, The Els GC, Yas Links GC, Saadiyat GC, Yas Acres GC, Abu Dhabi GC, Trump GC.
