JEDDAH: Jeddah Municipality has allocated land in Bahra, southwest of Jeddah, to build an environmental center where the private sector can invest in recycling projects.
The licensing for the new location, measuring four million square meters, has already been finalized and recycling projects would be offered to the private investor in public bids, said Jamal Abou Sab’a, head of the Landfill Department at the municipality.
Abou Sab’a said various recycling project opportunities with 20-year service contracts are in the pipeline.
Jeddah annually produces 125 tons of hazardous industrial waste, 3,370 tons of medical waste, 82,000 tons of solid and liquid petrol waste, and more than 80,000 tons of general waste.
Abou Sab’a said the municipality hosted a workshop last week on ways of turning waste into energy for officials from the city’s cleaning company. The workshop stressed on raising awareness on how to handle waste, in addition to imposing strict fines on the illegal disposal of garbage, especially toxic waste.
The municipality is currently reviewing garbage recycling in Jeddah and needs private sector support to deal with waste management.
Abou Sab’a noted that a newly opened Asla landfill would also contain several recycling projects and it would be used as a waste separating facility. The new landfill receives 4,200 tons of domestic and commercial waste daily. The garbage is then disposed of according to international standards.
