GCC-Stat: 262.7m tons of waste collected, 192m tons treated across GCC countries

MUSCAT / WAM

The latest data released by the Statistical Centre for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf (GCC-Stat) indicate that the total waste collected in the GCC countries by the end of 2023 is estimated at approximately 262.7 million tons, marking an increase of 153.7% compared to the figures recorded in 2019.
Meanwhile, the total waste treated reached 192.0 million tons, which reflects a 128.5% increase. The per capita share of household waste in the GCC countries decreased by 17.4%, reaching 1.4 kilograms per person per day.
Statistics indicate that 99.2% of the collected waste in the GCC countries was non-hazardous, while 95.8% of the hazardous waste was exported from the GCC to other countries for treatment. The treatment methods primarily involved recycling or recovering metals and metallic compounds from the waste. The GCC countries succeeded in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 12, related to the recycling and reuse of hazardous waste, reaching a rate of 30% in 2023. The cumulative number of national reports submitted by the GCC Countries under the Basel Convention on the Control of Hazardous Wastes reached 87 national reports.
The amount of hazardous waste collected from the healthcare sector in GCC countries after the COVID-19 pandemic decreased by 11.4% in 2023 compared to 2022. Meanwhile, the GCC countries have made significant strides in developing their medical waste treatment infrastructure. In 2023, the total number of incineration facilities for medical waste reached 23 sites, marking an increase of 27.8% compared to the figures recorded in 2022. Additionally, the design capacity of medical waste incineration sites increased by 123.9% during the same period, reaching 207.5 thousand metric tons.
The amount of hazardous waste collected from the industrial sector increased by 23.8% in 2023 compared to the figures logged in 2022, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
As for municipal waste, the amount of household waste collected in the GCC has decreased over the past three years after peaking in 2020 at 35.5 million tons. By the end of 2023, the collected household waste amounted to approximately 30.8 million tons. The amount of agricultural waste collected in the GCC Countries increased by 44% in 2023, reaching 2.5 million tons, compared to 2.0 million tons in 2022 and 1.7 million tons in 2019.
The amount of municipal waste collected from other economic activities in the GCC Countries also increased from 11.9 million tons in 2019 to 14.3 million tons in 2023.
It is worth noting that the Waste Management Market Analysis Study in the GCC Countries (2019–2023), published by Mordor Intelligence, estimates the waste management market size in the GCC to be approximately USD 68.3 billion in 2025. It is projected to reach USD 97.4 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% during the period 2025 to 2030.