Syed Hussein Al -Qassab
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries made remarkable progress in the field of waste management during the year 2023, according to the data of the Gulf Statistics Center, which reflected a great improvement in the indicators of gathering and treatment, which confirms the growing environmental awareness and collective commitment towards sustainability. The total waste in the GCC countries reached about 262.7 million tons, with a growth rate of 153.7% compared to 2019, while 192 million were treated A ton, a growth rate of 128.5% during the same period. 99% of this waste is not dangerous, and is subject to safe management. In this context, the Kingdom of Bahrain has emerged by achieving 98.5% in the index of the collection and treatment of solid waste, according to a comparison between 2022 and 2024, which reflects a clear commitment to achieving sustainable development and enhancing environmental efficiency. The risk of dangerous waste treated in the Gulf countries reached only about 1% of the total, with with the total, with the total, with only 1% of the total. It improved by 42.9% compared to 2019. As for the non -dangerous waste, 96% of it was treated, which reflects the development of the Gulf infrastructure in dealing with waste. Gulf efforts contributed to setting a unified system for managing dangerous health care waste, including 8 types of waste and organized it through 23 legal articles, which strengthened the trend towards reducing the burial and increasing recycling, as the recycling rate exceeded 50% For less than 30% by burial, less than 15% by burning. In Bahrain, dangerous waste treatment was distributed as follows: 32.6% recycling, 11.5% burial, 8.8% burning, and 47.1% by other means. In 2023, a decrease of 11.4% in the dangerous waste collected from the health sector compared to 2022, which reflects the end of the consequences of the Corona Koruna (Kofid-19). The individual’s share of families’ waste also decreased from 1.7 kg per day in 2019 to 1.4 kg in 2023. In Bahrain, 0.6 million tons of families’ waste were collected in 2023, with a positive growth of 2.7% compared to 2019, making it the Gulf state less in terms of families’ waste. Bahrain and Oman recorded the lowest percentage of this waste at 0.2%, indicating the efficiency of environmental management in this sector. The United Arab Emirates has emerged in the field of energy recovery from waste, as the percentage increased from 4.9% in 2020 to 6.3% in 2023, which reflects its adoption for innovative and sustainable environmental solutions. Modern environmental indicators indicate that the Gulf states, led by Bahrain, are adopting concepts such as circular economy and green investment, and works to integrate them into national policies and plans. Bahrain emerges as a model Raed, he was able to achieve a qualitative shift thanks to improving infrastructure, activating legislation, and increasing societal awareness, which led to a decrease in individual waste production and high recycling rates and safe treatment. With the continued Gulf efforts towards unifying systems, and the employment of artificial intelligence technologies and the Internet of Things in tracking and sorting waste, the region is moving at a confident pace towards global leadership in sustainable management For waste.
