Environmental sustainability covers every corner of our lives, including everything we’re using, and everything we’re done using. Waste, trash, garbage… where does it go? And how expensive is it to fix our pollution dilemma?

The issue of environmental sustainability is one that has been recently gaining traction within the Middle East, particularly within the realm of material waste and consumption. The Middle East is responsible for 150 million tons of gross urban waste annually, with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Kuwait ranking within the top ten nations in terms of their per capita solid waste regeneration. With such significant waste generation in the region, the question of the strength of solid waste management (collecting, transporting, disposing, and recycling waste) in the region is significant on a variety of levels, including both the economic as well as the environmental. 

 The Middle East loses out on between $2 to $29 million in revenue from marine plastic pollution alone, accounting for factors such as public health, environment, and tourism.

Economic Impact of Waste Generation

A green economy is one that maximizes economic growth while also sustainably managing natural assets. Environmental externalities present significant barriers in achieving it, as they are created from neglecting the environmental costs of waste generation from both production and consumption. Sure enough, the costs of said environmental externalities are apparent within the Middle East. The Middle East loses out on between $2 to $29 million in revenue from marine plastic pollution alone, accounting for factors such as public health, environment, and tourism. The cleanup costs for the Middle East in that light are far lower than the global average, with a per capita cost of USD 0.01 compared to the global average of USD 1.61. This lower cost of collection provides hope for a cleaner, less wasteful Middle East. 

Waste Management in the Middle East

The recycling industry in the Middle East is still considered to be in its beginning stages as recycling rates within the region are relatively low, resulting from various factorssuch as the gap between cost and revenues, low public awareness, and insufficient government framework. Still, things are not wholly bleak, as while there are various hindrances to the industry’s growth, most Arab governments have recognized and expressed the will to apply tangible solutions to the issue of waste management. Morocco, in support of the World Bank, aims to increase its recycled material rate to 20 percent by 2022 while also improving the working conditions of waste-pickers. In Egypt, the National Solid Waste Management Program funded by the EU, KFW, GIZ, Swiss Corporation, and the Egyptian government has recently been completed, which aims at restructuring the waste sector at the national, regional and local level, establishing an independent central entity to regulate the management of the municipal solid waste system, and establishing waste management units in in four governorates (Kafr El Sheikh- Gharbia- Quena- Assiut). In Saudi Arabia, the Public Investment Fund announced plans of establishing a Saudi Recycling Company to ‘support and operate its investments in domestic recycling projects’ in October of 2017. Furthermore, in 2018, the UAE had passed a new federal law concerning integrated waste management (the first in the region) as well as planned for construction of a waste facility for 900 tons a day in Sharjah, a cement waste-to-energy plant costing 28 million Euros in Abu Dhabi, a waste-to-energy plant with  2,000 tons a day waste management capacity in Dubai, and another for daily 900 tons in Sharjah.  While interest in waste management has been rekindled in the region, we are still in early stages. 

Ways Forward 

            As the Middle East works towards a cleaner, more sustainable future, many considerations need to be made. Effective cost recovery mechanisms for waste collection and sustainability of planned projects are some of the main considerations that should be prioritized when tackling the issue of waste collection. States should also be open to cooperation with international institutions (for projects, apprenticeships, institutional development, and higher educational schemes) while also balancing their local, domestic expertise (Egypt’s zabaleen come to mind) in order to work towards better waste management while maximizing national development. 

Citations and sources for further reading:

Defra (Publication). (2012, March). Retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69500/pb13548-economic-principles-wr110613.pdf

“Home - NSWMP - National Solid Waste Management Programme.” NSWMP, 14 Oct. 2019, nswmp.net/. 

The Price Tag Of Plastic Pollution (Rep.). (2019). Retrieved https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nl/Documents/strategy-analytics-and-ma/deloitte-nl-strategy-analytics-and-ma-the-price-tag-of-plastic-pollution.pdf

Waste Management in the Arab Region: Recycling on Trial. (2019, March 04). Retrieved from https://global-recycling.info/archives/2620