AGBI
Summary
One of the most pressing – but least glamorous – problems facing the Middle East and North Africa is waste.
The region generates more than 155 million tonnes of waste a year, according to the World Bank. This is expected to double by 2050.
Poorly managed waste already costs the region more than $7 billion each year in environmental damage, with broader spillovers affecting tourism, healthcare and infrastructure.
But even these figures underestimate the real economic loss.
Waste is not simply rubbish. It represents lost materials, wasted energy and squandered industrial opportunity.
Amsterdam has deliberately integrated waste into its energy and industrial systems through the city’s waste management company Afval Energie Bedrijf (AEB). It runs one of Europe’s largest waste-to-energy facilities, capable of processing roughly 1.4 million tonnes of waste each year.
The AEB plant converts residual waste into electricity, district heating and recoverable industrial materials, in effect eliminating landfill dependency for much of the city’s waste stream.
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