Waste Management

Last published date: 2022-07-06

Overview
Due to rapid industrialization, high population growth, and fast urbanization,
waste management is a top priority for Saudi Arabia, where more than 106
million tons of waste are expected to be treated by 2035. The Saudi Arabian
Government’s 2022 budget line item for Municipal Services is $50 billion
which is the same as its actual estimated 2021 expenditure.

Saudi Arabia produces about 53 million tons of waste every year,

contaminating its soil and groundwater. According to Saudi Arabia’s National
Center for Waste Management, the environmental degradation caused by
solid waste in 2021 was estimated at $1.3 billion. Nearly half of the total
waste comes from three major cities: 21 percent from Riyadh, 14 percent from
Jeddah, and eight percent from Dammam. Most landfills in Saudi Arabia are
on the brink of reaching their capacity. Saudis make heavy use of disposable
products, notably single-use plastics. Recycling is limited. The majority of
municipal waste is disposed of, untreated, in landfills, while some is
incinerated. Once the landfill sites are full, the land typically cannot be used
for other purposes. Landfills in Saudi Arabia are usually not engineered to
limit their harmful effects. According to the former CEO of the Saudi
Investment Recycling Company, most of the country’s waste is currently being
landfilled at an average of $1.87 per ton.

Key Players in the Saudi Arabia Waste

Management Sector
 Ministry of Environment, Water, & Agriculture (MEWA): Responsible for
the regulation and implementation of all aspects of the country’s policies
for the environmental, water and agricultural sectors.

 National Center for Waste Management (MWAN): Regulates and

supervises waste management activities and promotes principle of
circular economy in waste management to achieve sustainable
development goals. Radioactive and military waste management is
outside the purview of MWAN.
  National Center for Environmental Compliance (NCEC): NCEC
oversees issuance of licensing and accreditation services to
organizations offering environmental services. The center also issues
and renews service facilities and establishes activities that have a
potential impact on the environment.

Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC): The largest industrial waste

management company in the GCC with a fully integrated platform to handle,
store, transport, treat, and safely dispose of the hazardous waste. SIRC
develops, owns, operates, and finances various activities across all waste
types to establish recycling capacities in Saudi Arabia.

 Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company (TAQNIA):

A 100 percent Public Investment-owned company mandated to invest
and commercialize the R&D output from various research institutions
locally and globally.

 National Center for Privatization and PPP (NCP): A public center of

excellence that aids in developing regulations, creating privatization
frameworks, and preparing government assets and services for
privatization.

 National Environmental Recycling Company (Tadweer): A leading

company specialized in recycling electronic and electrical waste.

 Tadweer Food Recycling Company: A leading company in addressing

food waste and converting it into useful organic fertilizers.

 AlQaryan Group: With a number of recycling plants including copper, E-

waste and PVC recycling, AlQaryan Group undertakes long-term onsite
metal recycling services for the industrial sector.

 Riyadh Municipality: Responsible for the development and

implementation strategy for greater Riyadh in coordination with MWAN
and SIRC. Generates procurement tenders for projects in Riyadh.

 Eastern Province Municipality: Includes the sub-municipalities of

Dhahran, Dammam, and Khobar. Responsible for the development and
implementation strategy for the Eastern Province in coordination with
MWAN and SIRC. Generates procurement tenders for projects in the
Eastern Province.
  Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC): A
closed joint-stock company fully owned by the Municipality of Jeddah
specializing in urban development programs and the treatment and
collection of waste materials.

 Waste Collection and Recycling Co. (WASCO): The largest company

specialized in waste management in Saudi Arabia. It has exclusive
contractual agreements with the Municipality of Jeddah through the
latter’s Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company to
operate centers for the management and handling of recyclable
municipal waste in the governorate of Jeddah and its suburbs.

 Yanbu United Company (YUNITCO): The recycling plant in Yanbu Al-

Sinaiyah is the largest in the Middle East and North Africa and the
second largest globally. It specializes in recycling oil from factories,
petroleum and petrochemical companies, cement factories and other oil
waste, and has dedicated units for used oil treatment and petroleum
waste recycling.

Doing Business in the Saudi Arabia Waste

Management Sector
MWAN issues licenses to all service providers, establishments, investors, and
facilities related to waste management activities with which the center is
concerned. It also grants permits to recycling facilities after all necessary
requirements have been met before the licensing of such facilities is issued by
the competent authority.

Regarding procurement, although U.S. exporters are not required to appoint a

local Saudi agent or distributor to sell to Saudi companies, it is strongly
recommended that companies consider partnering with a local company for
the purposes of monitoring business opportunities, navigating import and
standard testing regulations, and identifying public sector sales and contract
opportunities.

Saudi Arabia’s Procurement Law regulates all government procurement –

including MWAN tenders. The Ministry of Finance is the overarching authority
for the law and its implementation, and administers the procurement portal,
Etimad, which serves as a centralized repository for all government tenders.
Under Vision 2030, Municipalities – under which waste management falls – is
one of the sectors targeted for privatization by the NCP. In addition to
exploring procurement tendering opportunities directly with the Riyadh,
Eastern Province, and Jeddah municipalities, U.S. companies may find
procurement opportunities posted on the NCP website as well as on the
websites of SIRC, Tadweer, TAQNIA, Jeddah Development & Urban
Regeneration Company, WASCO, and UNITCO.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia published a new Waste Management Law to regulate

the transport, segregation, storage, import, export, safe disposal of waste and
all other related activities. All concerned parties must recycle, retrieve
resources, and ensure safe disposal in order to achieve better environmental
and economic results. The law prescribes the responsibilities of waste related
service providers. For example, disposal service providers must adhere to the
disposal methods set by the NCWM. As for hazardous waste transporters,
they must use means of transportation that conform with NWMC standards,
place warning labels and ensure the existence of documentation about the
transported hazardous waste.

Opportunities
By 2030, Saudi Arabia intends to divert 60 percent of construction and
demolition waste from landfills — recycling 12 percent, reusing 35 percent and
treating 13 percent. Moreover, it plans to divert 100 percent of municipal solid
waste from landfills through recycling 82 percent of this waste, and processing
19 percent to use as energy sources (waste-to-energy).

MWAN aims to recycle 35 percent of all types of waste by 2035, and it plans
to treat the waste that cannot be recycled through the production of derivative
fuels or the production of energy. It estimates that Saudi Arabia will require
over 1,300 treatment facilities and landfills to treat 106 million tons of waste.

MWAN’s Vision 2030 Waste Management Targets:

 Total Diversion Rate from Landfill: 82 percent

 Recycling: 42 percent
 Compost: 35 percent
 Incineration: 19 percent
 Others: 4 percent

SIRC is aiming to divert 85 percent of Saudi Arabia’s industrial hazardous

waste from landfills through recycling and treatment.
Leading Sub-Sectors
Waste Management & Recycling: As part of its National Transformation
Program, Saudi Arabia has launched a system for municipal waste
management to tackle all types of solid wastes, including general solid wastes
such as construction debris, medical waste, hazardous waste, asbestos waste
and used oils. Opportunities for technology owners and service providers
include comprehensive solutions for material recovery facilities, solutions to
treat hazardous waste, recycling waste and converting them into valuable
resources or raw materials, engineering and construction services focused on
recycling facilities and technologies, and automation and Artificial Intelligence
solutions.

Oil & Gas Operations Waste and Industrial Recycling: Effective waste
management and innovative recycling technologies are an integral part of
Saudi Aramco’s Circular Carbon Economy initiative. Given the high level of
carbon intensity and amount of waste generated from the industry, Saudi
Aramco is striving to reduce that by building strategic collaborations
companies to treat waste, recycle metals and recycle and reuse plastic and
rubber. Opportunities exist for companies that offer unique solutions and
technologies in waste management infrastructure, mobile waste management
technologies and special waste management studies.

Radioactive Waste Management: The National Center of Radioactive Waste

Management at K.A. CARE manages and controls all aspects of radioactive
waste including identification, transportation and storage. Currently the
sources of radioactive waste in Saudi Arabia are limited to nuclear medicine
and production of radioactive drugs and sources. Opportunities exist for
companies to collaborate on: treatment of radioactive waste and
decontamination and disposal.

Waste-to-Energy: SIRC has stated that it will invest in waste-to-energy plants

to contribute to the country’s target of generating 3GW of waste-to-energy
capacity by 2030. A priority goal is to make waste-to-energy more cost-
efficient. In 2018, Saudi firm Sadara and France’s Veolia signed a
memorandum of understanding to build a sustainable utilities plant in the
industrial city of Jubail. The aim is to produce industrial steam, cooled water
and compressed air from the incineration of industrial waste.

Food Waste: According Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Agriculture and the Saudi
Grains Organization, food waste costs Saudi Arabia $10.6 billion annually with
food loss and waste hitting 33 percent. In January 2020, the Ministry of
Municipality and Rural Affairs issued a decree mandating all restaurants and
wedding halls to contract with food banks to preserve excess food.
Opportunities exist for companies that can help Saudi municipalities improve
all stages of their food supply chains to minimize food waste — from
agriculture to manufacturing, distribution and consumption.

Resources
 Ministry of Environment, Water, & Agriculture
 National Center for Waste Management
 Saudi Investment Recycling Company
 Saudi Technology Development and Investment Company
 National Center for Privatization and PPP
 National Environmental Recycling Company
 Riyadh Municipality
 Eastern Province Municipality
 Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company
 Waste Collection and Recycling Co.
 Yanbu United Company
 Vision 2030
 Saudi Aramco
 The National Center for Radioactive Waste Management - KA CARE

Events
 Waste Expo
 International Conference on Electronic Waste Management, Recycling
and Disposal (
 Petro environment
 Saudi Green Initiative