The National Waste Management Center, Eastern Province Municipality and the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to start integrated waste management and waste recycling activities in the Eastern Province. The agreement was signed by Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadley, the chairman of the board of directors of the National Waste Management Center; Eng. Fahad Aljubair, Mayor of the Eastern Province; and Eng. Jeroen Vincent, Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC). Under the MoU, the three parties will jointly work on the execution of the overall waste management strategy for the Eastern Province to achieve a set of strategic objectives for recycling by 2035. This notably includes the recycling of 81 per cent of the 2 million tons of annually produced municipal solid waste and 60 percent of the approximately 1.5 million tons of construction and demolition waste per year. As part of an integrated waste management system, the National Waste Management Center and the Saudi Investment Recycling Company will build state-of-the-art recycling facilities in the Eastern Province to recycle all types of waste. This includes recycling of municipal waste into recyclables such as fertilizer, paper, plastics and metals. His Excellency Eng. Fahad Aljubair, Mayor of the Eastern Province, said: "This agreement strengthens our continuous efforts to improve the system of work in the waste management sector and upgrade the services provided to the residents in accordance with the best international standards." He added: "The signing of the MoU comes within the efforts of the Eastern Province Municipality to preserve and protect the environment and achieve its sustainability targets." The economic growth and continuous increase in population and urbanization have increased the amount of waste and factory waste, thus requiring a sophisticated technical approach in dealing with them. Therefore, the agreement represents an extension of the efforts of the Secretariat to promote the manifestations of the environment. Eng. Jeroen Vincent, Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, said: "The signing of this agreement represents an extension of the agreements signed recently by us, which aims at developing the waste management sector through the establishment of modern recycling facilities. We are proud and honored to be part of this agreement that will enable our role as waste management sector development company by establishing state-of-the-art recycling facilities in the Eastern Province. — SG
