New Dump Unveiled

Sunday, 11 November 2007
By Adel Al-Malki
Jeddah - The new garbage yard will take care of Jeddah's waste for the next 30 years, said Deputy Khaled Aqeel of this city's municipality as he started the campaign for the new location on Saturday.
The new site will cost more SR30 million, located on an area of 4.5 million square meters at a distance of 25 km from Beriman bridge. It is scheduled to open within two months.
The municipality also signed three contracts for the closure of the old garbage yard worth SR150 million, Aqeel said. The space will be turned into parkland, according to city officials.
The mechanism of the new garbage yard also includes a new system for the extraction of gas from waste, potentially providing something - energy and cash - from nothing.
"The municipality plans to dispose solid waste here for more than 30 years," he said. "By taking advantage of the decomposition of fertilizers, waste wood and green waste, as well as livestock, poultry and waste oils, components can be recycled and will be a source of material income that can be spent in the operation of the site in addition to the possibility of providing other recycled materials and gas for the production of electricity."
Aqeel said the new garbage yard will be much more technologically advanced than the previous fill, where fires caused thick smoke to rumble through Jeddah neighborhoods. Many families complained that their children were coming down with chronic conditions from living near the old dump.
"The new garbage yard will operate ... in accordance with the foundations of the world to preserve the surrounding environment, and it impacts positively on the city of Jeddah and its inhabitants," he said.