SIRC Announces Riyadh’s First Recycling Facility

Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) logo
Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) logo
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SIRC Announces Riyadh’s First Recycling Facility

Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) logo
Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) logo

Saudi Investment Recycling Company (SIRC) announced the construction of the first recycling and sorting facility in Riyadh, as part of the government’s initiative to enhance environmental sustainability, while looking forward to establishing other facilities in the capital and the eastern region.

SIRC communication director, Fahad al-Shehri, indicated that the company agreed with Riyadh Municipality to establish two facilities, one for construction and demolition wastes (CDW) and another for the municipal wastes to be opened by the end of this year.

Shehri told Asharq Al-Awsat that SIRC plans to open another facility in Riyadh and other facilities in the Eastern Province, stressing that they aim to enhance environmental sustainability by adopting a circular economy model in the Kingdom.

Last Sunday, the Riyadh Municipality announced that the Kingdom’s first recycling facility is in its final stages of construction, established in partnership with SIRC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF).

It noted that this will be the first step toward meeting the national ambition of diverting 60 percent of CDW from landfills by 2035 in alignment with the Kingdom's effort to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.

The new facility is aligned with SIRC's strategic plan to implement a world-class waste management system and position the Kingdom at the forefront of innovative recycling.

The facility is the first to be developed under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in July 2019 between SIRC, the National Center for Waste Management, and al-Riyadh Municipality for embracing integrated waste management and recycling activities in the capital.

The new facility is located in al-Khair, north district of Riyadh, and covers over 1.3 million sq. meters of land allocated by al-Riyadh Municipality. It will treat up to 600 tons of CDW per hour and achieve recycling rates of over 90 percent.

The facility will use advanced technologies and will be equipped with mobile equipment that can be moved between future recycling sites and reconfigured to deal with various capacities according to local needs.



Trump Says He Wants a Fair Trade Deal with China

US President Donald Trump speaks with the media aboard Air Force One as he flies from West Palm Beach, Florida enroute to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on May 4, 2025 returning to the White House.(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks with the media aboard Air Force One as he flies from West Palm Beach, Florida enroute to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on May 4, 2025 returning to the White House.(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
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Trump Says He Wants a Fair Trade Deal with China

US President Donald Trump speaks with the media aboard Air Force One as he flies from West Palm Beach, Florida enroute to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on May 4, 2025 returning to the White House.(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks with the media aboard Air Force One as he flies from West Palm Beach, Florida enroute to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, on May 4, 2025 returning to the White House.(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)

US President Donald Trump on Sunday said the US was meeting with many countries, including China, on trade deals, and his main priority with China was to secure a fair trade deal.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he had no plans to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, but US officials were speaking with Chinese officials about a variety of different things.

Asked if any trade agreements would be announced this week, Trump said that could "very well be" but gave no details, reported Reuters.

Trump's top officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10% tariff on most countries, along with higher tariff rates for many trading partners that were then suspended for 90 days. He has also imposed 25% tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145% tariffs on China.

He suggested that he did not expect to reach an agreement with some countries, but could instead be "setting a certain tariff" for those trading partners in the next two to three weeks. It was not immediately clear if he was referring to the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2, which are due to kick in on July 8 after a 90-day pause.

Trump repeated his claim that China had been "ripping us for many years" on global trade, adding that former President Richard Nixon's move to reach out and establish relations with China was "the worst thing" he ever did.

Trump sounded more upbeat about China and the prospects for reaching an agreement in an interview with NBC News that was taped on Friday and broadcast on Sunday.

In the interview, he acknowledged that he had been "very tough with China," essentially cutting off trade between the world's top two economies, but said Beijing now wanted to reach an agreement.

"We've gone cold turkey," he said. "That means we're not losing a trillion dollars ... because we're not doing business with them right now. And they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal very badly. We'll see how that all turns out, but it's got to be a fair deal."