RIYADH: Recycling in Saudi Arabia will generate an annual income of SR120 billion ($32 billion) by 2035, according to the minister of environment, water and agriculture.
Speaking at an event organized by the Riyadh Economic Forum, Mansour Al-Mushaiti said the forecast is based on estimates made by the National Center for Waste Management.
Al-Mushaiti also used his speech to flag up a study by the World Bank which warns the cost of the annual environmental burden on the economy comes in at SR86 billion a year, of which SR8 billion comes from poor waste management.
The minister talked-up the Kingdom’s sustainability policies, including the Crown Prince’s pledge to plant 10 billion trees in the coming decades.
He also flagged up the move to zero carbon neutrality by 2060, as well as seeing 94 percent of waste recycled by 2035 instead of being taken to landfills.