Samaher Saif Al-Yazal
– Lamia Al-Fadala: The agreement enhances environmental governance and Bahrain’s position on recycling indicators
– Al-Saad: “Northern” was the first municipal entity to take the initiative to present the idea to the company
– Zahraa Al-Sahlawi: Treating 1,000 tons of electronic waste in 2024
– Al-Wadaei: Building policies aimed at changing social concepts and behavior
The Northern Region Municipality signed an agreement, the first of its kind, with Crown Industries, which specializes in electronic waste recycling, with the aim of organizing the collection and treatment of this type of waste, which is considered one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants if not managed properly, in a pioneering step towards achieving environmental sustainability and enhancing the Kingdom’s efforts in the field of recycling. Director General of the Northern Region Municipality, Lamia Al-Fadala, expressed her pride in signing the agreement, stressing that it represents a strategic step towards the safe disposal and recycling of electronic waste, while ensuring governance of procedures between the municipality and the company to achieve the desired environmental goals. She explained that the agreement comes within the initiatives of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, which began implementing it in the Northern Governorate in preparation for its dissemination to the rest of the municipalities, noting that Bahrain’s ranking second in the Arab world in recycling at a rate of 34% is a major achievement that reflects the size of national efforts in this field. Lamia Al-Fadala added that work on the project has actually begun, indicating that electronic waste collection containers require special requirements before distributing them, due to their great sensitivity and flammability, which requires providing shaded and safe places to protect them. She confirmed that the first containers were inaugurated at the municipality building in the Aali area, and that five additional containers will later be distributed in other areas of the governorate after preparing them with the necessary conditions. Regarding community awareness, she stressed that the Bahraini people have a high degree of environmental awareness, but they need practical initiatives to establish correct behaviors in waste disposal, praising the role of municipal members in spreading awareness among citizens and transforming it into daily behavior that preserves the environment and public health. For his part, the Managing Director of Crown Industries, Ali Al-Saad, praised the initiative of the Northern Municipality, stressing that the main goal of the agreement is to preserve and sustain the environment, explaining that “Al-Shamaliya” was the first municipal entity to take the initiative to propose This idea is on the company. He pointed out that Bahrain takes the recycling file seriously through these specific initiatives, pointing out that the company will provide direct communication channels for citizens via WhatsApp and email to facilitate the process of collecting electronic waste. Al-Saad explained that the recycling process will take place through two basic methods: shredding or disassembly, where the electronic components are separated to be reused as raw materials in factories outside Bahrain, given that advanced chemical treatment processes are not currently available locally, stressing the continued discussion with the concerned authorities to provide these solutions within the Kingdom in the future. For her part, the environmental specialist at Crown Industries, Zahraa Al-Sahlawi, revealed that the company collected about 1,000 tons of electronic waste in 2024, confirming that the factory has the capacity to process from 2,000 to 2,500 tons annually. She explained that the company, which has more than 30 years of experience, works to recycle ferrous and non-ferrous waste, in addition to electronic waste, which includes electrical devices containing wires or batteries that have expired. For his part, the Chairman of the Northern Region Municipal Council, Dr. Sayed Shubar Al-Wadaei, confirmed that the signing of the agreement comes within the council’s efforts to build policies aimed at changing concepts and social behavior in dealing with electronic waste and methods of disposing of it. He pointed out that noticing the increasing throwing of electronic devices among regular household waste called for the need to adopt effective awareness policies to reach Bahraini families and residents to raise awareness of the importance of safe disposal of this waste.
