Riyadh, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia is expected to generate an annual income of $32 billion from recycling waste by 2035, according to the minister of environment, water and agriculture.
Mansour Al-Mushaiti, speaking at an event organized by the Riyadh Economic Forum, said the forecast is based on estimates made by the National Center for Waste Management.
He 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.
Al-Mushaiti 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.