Saudi Arabia has suspended the application of a technical regulation for biodegradable plastic products, called SASO 2789, as it comes in violation of the Saudi Green Initiative launched in 2021.
Last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced the launch of the Green Saudi Arabia and Green Middle East initiatives, which outline the Kingdom’s direction in protecting the land and nature and contribute to the achievement of the global environment goals.
According to official information, Saudi Arabia has decided to stop using SASO 2789 as it comes in contradiction with the country’s initiative, which stresses the need to remove 94 percent of Riyadh’s municipal waste from landfills by the year 2035.
The information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat indicated that the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture stressed the importance of stopping the work of the aforementioned standard because of its negative impact on the environment and the economy.
At the same time, the ministry has called on the concerned parties to present their views on the impact of the application of the standard (SASO 2789) and its technical regulation through the available means of communication.
The current Saudi initiatives seek to reduce carbon emissions by more than 4 percent, through renewable energy projects that will provide 50 percent of electricity production within the Kingdom by 2030, and projects in the field of clean hydrocarbon technologies that will remove more than 130 million tons of carbon emissions, in addition to raising the percentage of waste diversion from landfills to 94 percent.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said at the launch of the initiative that the Kingdom, as a leading global oil producer, was fully aware of its responsibility to advance the fight against the climate crisis.
He added that the initiative would work to raise vegetation cover, reduce carbon emissions, combat pollution and land degradation, and preserve marine life.
