• Using advanced manufacturing technologies.
• Competitive prices.
• Complying with the international quality standards.

Recycling Sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council

The technological advancements in the GCC countries, as well as population growth, have contributed to increasing the quantity of waste generated from human and industrial activities, etc These represent a real test to the GCC governments; as it has become imperative for the GCC countries to address this issue at a faster pace to avoid environmental and health-related problems. Furthermore, the total accumulated waste quantity (hazardous and non-hazardous) in the GCC countries has been estimated at approximately 131.8 million tons. This waste is distributed with a ratio of (1.2% hazardous waste) and (98.8% non-hazardous waste). Thus, Mashroo3k for Economic and Administrative Consulting would like to present the most important indicators of the recycling sector in the GCC countries below:

• The total quantity of accumulated hazardous waste in the GCC countries reached 1.6 million tons
• The total quantity of non-hazardous waste in the GCC countries reached 2 million tons.
• The accumulated hazardous waste is divided into: (6% medical waste), (81.8% industrial waste), and (12.2% other waste such as batteries and electronic waste).
• The accumulated non-hazardous waste is divided into: (40.7% construction waste), (25% household waste), (1.7% green waste), and (32.5% other waste).
• The treated waste quantity reached 51% (67.2 million tons)
• The total quantity of accumulated industrial waste in the GCC countries reached 1.3 million tons that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates alone produce 63.1% and 19.3%, respectively, of the total waste generated.
• The quantity of non-hazardous waste accumulated from the household sector in the GCC countries reached 32 million tons.
• The United Arab Emirates ranks first in the quantity of waste treated by recycling at 42.8%.
• The quantity of recycled hazardous waste in the GCC countries amounts to 100 thousand tons (9.3%) of the total hazardous waste treated
• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranks first in the volume of solid waste with over 16 million tons annually, followed by the United Arab Emirates with approximately 5.4 million tons annually.
• The waste in the Middle East and North African countries is divided as follows:
• Food and green waste account for 58%.
• Glass 3%.
• Metal 3%.
• Paper and cardboard 13%.
• Plastics 12%.
• Woods 1%.
• Rubber and leather 2%.
• Other waste 8%.
• In the GCC countries, hazardous waste is treated by incineration (9%), landfilling (51.7%), recycling (9.3%), and other methods (30%).
• In the GCC countries, non-hazardous waste is treated through landfilling (51%). The other methods, such as incineration, recycling, etc., constitute (49%).
• Circular Economy Features in the GCC countries:

Reducing primary energy consumption by about 4%.

Creating 50,000 jobs in the recycling sector.

Reducing the annual carbon dioxide emissions by 13 million tons.

Generating economic returns of USD 138 billion for the GCC countries during 2020-2030.

Recommendations:

Mashroo3k recommends investing in the recycling sector for the following reasons:

The world produces about 2.01 billion tons of solid waste; the volume of these wastes is expected to reach 3.40 billion tons by 2050.

In 2014, the world production of electronic wastes reached 12.8 million metric tons and rose, reaching 53.6 million metric tons in 2019.

Plastic and paper constitute approximately 29% of the total global waste; they are promising sectors for profit if investment is made in them through recycling Here is a division of all waste and its percentage share of total global waste: