Averda to manage waste at multi-billion dollar Red Sea project

The company will divert all waste produced during construction of phase one from landfill

Phase one includes 3,000 hotel rooms, including a new international airport, a yacht marina, leisure and lifestyle facilities as well as supporting logistics and utilities infrastructure, including moShow more

Red Sea Development Company, the developer of a mammoth tourism project on Saudi Arabia’s west coast, appointed Averda to manage a facility to handle construction waste.

Averda, which has offices in the UAE, will handle waste generated from 16 luxury hotels across five islands and two inland resorts being built during the project's initial phase. Phase one includes 3,000 hotel rooms, a new international airport, a yacht marina, leisure and lifestyle facilities as well as supporting logistics and utilities infrastructure, including more than 80 kilometres of new roads.

"All forms of waste generated by this enormous undertaking have been considered in the design of the waste system," Red Sea Development Company said in a statement.

In line with the company's policy of zero waste to landfill, tonnes of rubble and concrete waste generated from drilling for the foundations of the infrastructure will be sorted and treated by machinery, which transforms them into smaller particles.

The smaller, pulverised particles will then be reused for other purposes such as aggregate for building roads.

Averda will also tackle waste generated by the workforce employed at the project, which the developer says is equivalent to the population of a small town.

Household waste such as glass, plastics, can and paper will be collected separately, checked and sorted and transformed into new products by local recyclers.

Organic waste from the developing town will be turned into compost, which will be used to fertilise a landscape nursery covering one million square metres. The nursery, completed last year, will provide more than 15 million plants to landscape the project.

Any remaining waste that is non-recyclable and non-compostable will be incinerated in dedicated facilities. The ash generated from this process is then used in the manufacturing of bricks.

“We talk of waste management, but here, nothing is being wasted," Averda's chief executive Malek Sukkar said during an inauguration ceremony for the facility.