Integrated Waste Management Strategy for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability consultancy, Ricardo-AEA has been appointed by ArRiyadh Development Authority to deliver a comprehensive integrated waste management strategy and associated implementation plans for the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The company explained that the city is currently witnessing the rapid development of its metropolitan area, which presents major environmental challenges as population growth gives rise to large increases in the generation of waste. According to Ricardo-AEA, three quarters of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s population currently reside in cities, with the capital city of Riyadh home to one fifth of the country’s total population. Furthermore, the population of Riyadh is expected to double, to approximately 8.3 million, by 2030. The city already produces approximately 8 million tonnes of waste per year, arising from municipal, commercial and industrial, and construction sources. The challenge The existing waste management infrastructure within the city is basic and the open landfill facilities are expected to reach full capacity in approximately six to seven years. According to the consultants, the ad-hoc illegal disposal of waste is already problematic, with current regulation and enforcement achieving limited success. To improve the situation, and assist the ArRiyadh Development Authority in realising its ambitions to treat all ‘wastes’ as resources and maximise their reuse within the economy, Ricardo-AEA said that it will develop an evidence based sustainable waste management strategy for the city. The aim of the strategy will be to reduce or mitigate the risk of adverse impacts of waste generation within the city through waste prevention, reuse and recycling. It is expected that implementing the strategy will divert increasing amounts of waste from landfill, whilst improving the resource efficiency of the commercial, industrial and municipal sectors - offering economic opportunities from materials reuse and recycling, as well as from energy recovery. According to Ricardo-AEA not only will the project deliver a world class strategy for Riyadh, it will also build significant capacity within the city’s leadership, stakeholder groups and industry sectors, leaving a legacy for the future of waste management well beyond the life of the project. “We aim to deliver the strategic support that will help to establish Riyadh firmly at the forefront of waste management best practice within the Middle East,” commented Ricardo-AEA’s resource efficiency and waste management practice director Dr Adam Read. Read More Driving the Sustainable Waste Management Agenda in Queensland Adam Read reports from Queensland, Australia where he's been learning about the current waste management situation and the efforts being made to move that forward. Waste Collection Sucks at $5.5 Billion Qatar Development Stockholm, Sweden based underground vacuum waste management system specialist, Envac, has been selected as the waste management partner for the Msheireb Downtown project - a 31 hectare mixed use urban regeneration project in Doha, Qatar. TALKING HEADS: Megacities With the subject of 'Megacities' attracting a lot of attention with regards to waste management, WMW asked some of the world's leading experts for their views on the role that waste to energy can play in such enormous urban developments.