RIYADH, 24 April 2007 — A study revealed made public yesterday showed that Saudi Arabia produces 16 million tons of garbage per year. The study also revealed that a Saudi national produces an average of 10.4 kilograms of waste per day.
The study was conducted by the American firm Clean Earth Solutions, which specializes in recycling municipal solid waste (MSW).
Clean Earth Solutions is investing in a multimillion-riyal deal with a Saudi company to recycle garbage in Saudi municipality landfills.
In a press conference held on Sunday, Sitaf Saudia Co. Ltd. announced its partnership with Vitalogic LLC to transfer recycling technology from Clean Earth Solutions to Saudi Arabia. The deal was signed by Prince Saad ibn Abdullah Al-Saud, chairman of Sitaf Saudia, and Michael Eley, CEO of Clean Earth Solutions.
According to officials from Clean Earth, the company will cooperate with Saudi municipalities to recycle garbage gathered by the tons in municipality landfills. It will also cooperate with Saudi universities regarding research and train Saudis in the field of recycling material.
“Our studies have shown that over 85 percent of garbage in Saudi Arabia could be recycled,” said John Lewis, executive director of the company.
Lewis said that main components from Saudi garbage gathered from municipality landfills in Riyadh were broken down into these elements: Aluminum (0.8 percent), steel (1.9 percent), PET (8.4 percent), plastic (9.0 percent), glass (2.9 percent), biodegradable waste (71 percent) and others (6.0 percent).
Michael Eley is a patent winner for his recycling invention from the University of Alabama, USA. His recycling patent has been used in 128 countries worldwide. With the new partnership deal signed yesterday, the technology will now be used in Saudi Arabia.
Eley mentioned that the partnership deal with Sitaf Saudia had enormous environmental benefits and that commercial profits were the least of concerns. He also noted that industrial and municipal waste from both developing and industrial countries were on the rise, adding that recycling was the solution for future generations.
The technology will be the first of its kind to enter the Saudi market, according to the company.
Even though Sitaf Saudia had not announced immediate plans of establishing recycling plants in the Kingdom, a source told Arab News that the project would go under way within a couple of months.
Turki Al-Jaafari, managing director of Sitaf Saudia, said that the government of Saudi Arabia was encouraging foreign companies to invest in the Saudi market in the field of recycling, as a solution to benefit from municipal waste.
“Many people think that garbage is a negative term, whereas in fact, garbage is of great economic benefit,” he said.
