Private office, adviser link up as UAE tightens waste rules
The Private Office of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mana bin Khalifa Al Maktoum has entered a strategic partnership with Elephants Foot Arabia to support waste management planning, compliance auditing and delivery of sustainability-focused infrastructure across the UAE. The agreement targets both public and private developments as the country implements more stringent building-level and national waste regulations.
What the partnership covers
The collaboration combines AMKM’s institutional network with Elephants Foot Group’s operational experience in the built environment. Through its regional arm, Elephants Foot Arabia will offer services that include waste management planning, design-stage advisory, compliance audits and direct project delivery. The arrangement also contemplates participation in public-private partnership bids and broader infrastructure programmes.
Elephants Foot Group positions the tie-up as an expansion of its existing service mix in the UAE and GCC, bringing decades of project work to bear on local compliance needs. The Private Office, in turn, will use its convening role to help align the initiative with national sustainability priorities and capital programmes.
Market and regulatory context
The announcement arrives as the UAE waste management market is expanding rapidly. Market estimates cited by the partners place the sector at about USD 13 billion in 2024, with a projected increase to roughly USD 22.6 billion by 2033. That growth is being driven by a combination of national targets and a stepped-up enforcement environment.
National policy aims such as the Net Zero by 2050 commitment and a 75 percent waste diversion target are increasing demand for services that reduce landfill volumes and improve materials management. At the city level, Dubai’s updated green building framework, Al Sa’fat 2.0, has introduced automated Building Performance Standard scanning and a Sustainable Materials Passport, tightening compliance at the development stage. Recent federal and emirate-level laws have also strengthened enforcement mechanisms for waste management, raising the stakes for developers, contractors and asset owners.
Industry implications
The partnership highlights a trend toward translating regulatory requirements into commercial opportunities for compliance and infrastructure delivery. For developers and contractors, those requirements are likely to increase demand for third-party auditors, consultant-led compliance plans and contractors able to deliver integrated waste-processing and circular-economy solutions.
For investors and market participants, the shift from advisory-only engagements to direct project delivery is notable. Elephants Foot’s emphasis on operational delivery as well as advisory services suggests a market where consultancy firms are positioning themselves to manage risk through execution capability rather than limiting their role to strategy.
Public-private partnerships may become a more prominent vehicle for scaling waste infrastructure, particularly for services requiring coordination across municipalities, utilities and private real estate portfolios. The new regulatory environment increases the incentive for government entities to procure ready-made solutions or structured partnerships that can meet compliance timelines and national targets.
What to watch next
Key indicators to follow include how quickly projects move from advisory stages into construction, the scale of PPP procurements that include waste infrastructure components, and whether other international specialist firms announce similar regional commitments. The extent to which automated compliance tools such as BPS scanning and materials passports are integrated into permitting workflows will also determine the pace of demand for remediation and retrofit work across existing buildings.
Ultimately, the partnership reflects an ongoing shift in the UAE market: regulations are no longer just a risk to be managed, they are shaping the pipeline for new infrastructure and service models. How effectively private firms can convert advisory engagements into deliverable assets will influence investor confidence and the overall speed of the country’s transition toward its waste-diversion and Net Zero goals.
