In alignment with its Vision 2030 and Net Zero 2060 commitments, Saudi Arabia is transforming its waste management system to focus on sustainability and resource efficiency. Rapid industrialisation, population growth and urbanisation have made waste management a pressing concern. The Kingdom generates over 110m tonnes of waste annually, with 43% of the total coming from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
Targets
To tackle waste-related challenges, the National Centre for Waste Management (MWAN), established in 2019, oversees waste regulation, licensing and permitting. MWAN’s National Waste Management Strategy has set ambitious goals for 2040, including diverting 90% of all waste from landfills. These efforts focus on recycling 40% of waste, composting 31% and converting 16% of waste to energy. MWAN aims to reduce per-capita waste generation by 3% and cut annual CO₂ equivalent emissions by 177%, based on a baseline of 47.8m tonnes per annum.
The MWAN master plan presents an integrated roadmap for assessing waste management across Saudi Arabia, dividing the Kingdom into 25 regional clusters and classifying waste into municipal, industrial, construction, health care, agricultural and other streams. The plan also creates a comprehensive portfolio of investment opportunities within each cluster.
In January 2024 the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture announced plans to increase the Kingdom’s recycling rate to 95%, up from 3-4%. It is estimated that this rate would contribute approximately SR120bn ($32bn) to GDP, while generating over 100,000 jobs. This strategy is backed by SR55bn ($14.7bn) in investment and includes 65 initiatives aimed at enhancing transparency and institutional efficiency.
Diversification Strategy
Beyond recycling, MWAN’s strategy focuses on expanding waste-toenergy projects to support Vision 2030’s broader objectives of economic diversification and reducing oil dependency. Technologies like anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and gasification – alongside incineration – can be tailored to different waste types, addressing the challenge of untreated municipal waste in landfills that are often not designed to mitigate harmful effects. These efforts are part of a circular economy approach, aimed at minimising environmental impact through resource reuse. In 2021 environmental degradation from solid waste cost Saudi Arabia an estimated $1.3bn, underscoring the urgency of these reforms.
A key driver of waste-to-energy development is Saudi Investment Recycling, which is fully owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth entity. Established in 2017, the company inaugurated a major waste-to-fuel plant in July 2024 in collaboration with the Germany’s environmental consulting firm MVW Lechtenberg and Norwegian blockchain provider Empower. The facility is set to process 3m tonnes of municipal waste annually across six governorates, converting 35% into refuse-derived fuel for cement producers, while recycling 14%. This initiative is projected to reduce carbon emissions by 1.8m tonnes per year.
Saudi Investment Recycling will continue to play a key role in helping Saudi Arabia reach its target of developing 3 GW of waste-to-energy generation capacity by 2030. This goal aligns with the country’s potential, considering that food waste costs the Kingdom SR40bn ($10.7bn) each year. Similarly, utilising Saudi Arabia’s plastic and mixed waste streams could yield another 1 TWh and 1.6 TWh of electricity per year, respectively.
Challenges remain, such as the need for a robust regulatory framework that encourages recycling and waste separation at the source. While the 2021 Waste Management Law has tightened waste producer responsibilities and improved emergency preparedness, further initiatives are required to incentivise businesses and individuals to reduce, reuse and recycle. Public awareness campaigns and educational efforts are critical to ensure that waste-to-energy systems receive appropriate waste streams, optimising their efficiency.
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