The deal envisages the establishment of EXITCOM KSA company in Saudi Arabia, which will be the first Arab company working in the field of recycling electronic and electrical products. The agreement was signed during the International Conference for the Recycling of Electrical and Electronic products (IERC) held in Austria in January in which the ICC was the only Arab participant.

ICC Chairman Basheer Aljabri said: “The company enters the field due to its awareness about the importance of this vital sector and the extent of its negative effects on the environment and people in the long run.”

ICC Vice President Akram Elyas pointed out that Saudi Arabia is lagging far behind its counterparts in the developing world in the field of recycling of products and wastes. The Kingdom suffers from a high volume of e-waste like the rest of the Gulf countries because of the overwhelming response to and use of electronic technologies, especially mobile phones and computers. Statistics estimated that the Kingdom produces approximately 3 million tons per year of e-waste.

Elyas pointed out that the volume of e-waste generated by mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices, could rise by 500 percent over the next decade in some countries, which highlights the urgent need to create awareness about environmental practices in the region. He added that the e-waste is one of the largest sources of increased waste in the world.

Mourad Alger, chief executive of EXITCOM, said the EXITCOM KSA would play a major role in this partnership.