Saudi university dedicated to promoting recycling

Jeddah - The King Abdul Aziz University launched a 10-day recycling campaign targeting 15 locations in the city of Jeddah. The objective is to collect surplus schoolbooks and papers as part of an initiative to raise environmental awareness around conservation as well as waste use.

The project is continuation of the university’s recycling project, began by the Scientific Endowment at King Abdul Aziz University in partnership with Waste Collection & Recycling Co. Ltd Scientific Endowment (WASCO) in 2013, under the banner of “Don’t Throw It … Recycle It”. The project is designed to spread and solidify the culture of environmental protection, making people aware about the importance of recycling used books and destroying paper in a safe way, in line with environmentally friendly standards.

To date the project has attracted a large amount of popular participation in the Mecca region, successfully collecting and recycling more than 2,500 tons of waste paper over the past five years. 

The Scientific Endowment at King Abdul Aziz University is an Islamic Endowment, or Waqf, which accepts donations, invests them, and then spends the income from the investments on scientific research and higher education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Wasco is a privately owned company established in 2004 and located in Jeddah. 

Recycling is a key topic and priority the University which has its own ‘Recycling Unit’ dedicated to promoting the culture of recycling and environmentally friendly solutions in the housing, industrial and agriculture sectors as well as the reuse of schoolbooks, newspapers and old cans. Not only does this conserve natural resources and avoid environmental hazards, it also reduces energy consumption in the conventional disposal of waste materials, while creating new job opportunities in the recycling industry.