More than 70,000 tons of waste was produced in Dammam, Alkhobar and Qatif during the first 15 days of Ramadan, said Mohammed Al-Omani, hygiene management director at the local municipality.

“Between 2,000 and 2,500 tons of waste have been transported daily out of Dammam and 1,000 tons daily from Alkhobar and Qatif,” he said.

Al-Omani attributed the increased amounts of waste being produced at residential neighborhoods, restaurants and supermarkets to exaggerated human consumption during Ramadan.

“The municipality is committed to applying standards that ensure the highest levels of environmental health in neighborhoods and streets,” he said. “This includes supporting manual and automated street-sweeping teams in streets, parks and town squares.”

More than 4,000 150-liter capacity and 26,000 200-liter capacity waste containers have been distributed throughout Dammam, while around 3,500 150-liter capacity containers and 16,000 200-liter containers have been set up in Alkhobar.