As the world is progressing and pollution becoming a major determent to a green world, recycling has chipped in to help better the situation. By coincidence, most of the waste products in industries and household chores are recyclable. This means by increasing the rates or recycling we reduce overall rate of resource exploitation and extinction. We also help conserve the environment and ease the process of making the world green. In most cases, governments have come up with acts or laws in their constitutions that help govern the process of recycling. Such acts of parliament or sections of the constitutions usually deal with the resources to be recycling and how or where the recycling should be done. They also dictate the final products and how the recycling process should be conducted.
In my specific area of research, my main aim is to compare and contrast recycling in the UK and the Saudi Arabia. This would call for identification of the similarities and existing differences as well as deduce some possible inferences which might be of help to the people or readers for comparison purposes.
Taking a look at recycling in the UK, it is governed by the UK government whereby a policy dictating the process is enforced. In the very first instance, it appears that the process of controlling recycling is done by the government and additionally an act of parliament by the name ‘household waste and recycling act’ of 2003 is also enforced to ensure the process follows a certain protocol (http://www.recyclenow.com/).
Taking a look at the way the process is conducted; the greater bulk of recycling lies on the Birmingham City Council which is the government’s main tool of recycling. Some other smaller recycling centers mostly recycle paper, glass and metal alloys but this accounts for a very small percentage towards the total recycled products in UK. Among the main things recycled are: paper products, plastic products and metallic products. Taking a look at household wastes recycled, garden waste is the main recycle product. Other upcoming projects are recycle banks or glass products, clothes or textile products and shoe recycling (James, 2012).
A closer look at the process also reveals that the current rates of recycling lies far much below the expected levels. This means that some wastes are still out in the streets polluting the environment. It is anticipated that by 2020, there will be about 26.5 million tons of waste produced in the UK annually. This figure shows that unless something is done and new recycle plants set in place, recycling will overwhelm the UK making it almost unable to achieve a green world.
Turning to the Saudi, the process or recycling is also controlled by the government. This is through national recycling bodies which are governed and maintained by the government. Looking at the process by which this is done, there is enough evidence to claim that everything is controlled by the central government unlike in the UK where the process is controlled by the local city councils. Under the control of the government, the Saudi recycle rates and processes are funded from the central government giving enough financial bases to carry out their processes effectively and in a timely manner.
The Saudi national recycling body (SANESMA) appears to have a national outreach program which seeks to identify and help people in need of recycling. This indicates great government involvement in the recycling process. This dictates also some differences in the way the whole process is conducted.
Looking at rough estimates on recycle levels, it is clear that currently, Saudi recycles more than 90% of the annually produced waste meaning that the wastes left for the citizens to do their personal recycling are less than 10%. As a matter of fact, the levels of recycling in the Saudi appears to overwhelm production levels with metal recycling taking the lead where less than 3% of the total scrap metal is lost. The rest is even recycled by government bodies which are charged with recycling of metals (Albarwardi Group, 2010).
Taking a brief look at the main recycled products, the main product is metal. The recycled metals are tin and aluminum without forgetting scrap metal recycling from dumped vehicle parts. This accounts for more than 60% of the total recycled products. The other bit is from industrial wastes like water which are treated and re-used in the industries or released to the environment with less levels of risk or pollution. Industrial recycling is also taking a lead in the process whereby the people of Saudi are taking responsibility of recycling instead of dumping (Sharma, 2012).
Comparing the two countries, the process of controlling appears to lie in the governments in both cases. This means that government policies are put on place to enforce the processes. Though they employ different strategies, both governments have consent that recycling is being carried out as stipulated in the constitution or policies.
Another similarity is the fact that the recycling is done on similar products. The main recycled wastes in both countries are metal products meaning that these two countries have a similar theme of reducing the overall exploitation of metallic minerals. The other wastes being recycled are household wastes and plastic wastes which indicate similar views in recycling.
However, some outstanding differences are also evident. To begin with, the mode of control and bodies used by the government to conduct the processes are different. Taking a look at this difference, UK uses mainly Birmingham city council to conduct the whole process of recycling whereas Saudi has a government body in charge of recycling. This means that local government in UK is charged with recycling whereas central government is charged with recycling in the Saudi (Riyadh Exhibition Company, 2009). The Saudi recycling process hence is cheaper compared to UK hence much efficiency in recycling in the Saudi.
Another difference is in the anticipation of recycling levels. This is well exhibited by the fact that unless something in recycling industry is done promptly in UK, recycling will overwhelm Birmingham city council and the smaller recycling plants found in the country. It is anticipated that the recycle levels have to be increased and probably distributed over a number of city councils in the near future to relieve over-reliance on a single city council. Looking at Saudi on the other hand, recycling appears to be taking a positive direction whereby the recycling plants are more than the waste production rates calling for recycling. This means that the whole process of recycling is still under control and no anticipation of the situation getting out of control is expected or speculated. Despite the anticipated increase in the population and lifestyle producing more wastes, the Saudi government is setting in place use of environmentally friendly products as a means to control the levels of pollution. This is well elaborated in Saudi’s green energy campaign.
Taking a look at the anticipation of the people from both countries, it is clear that the people of Saudi are more oriented towards a green world compared to the UK citizens. This is supported by the fact that Saudi motto on recycling and overall capital input in recycling reflect a situation where a green world is expected. This is not the case exhibited in UK (Joan, 2010). This supports the fact that UK figures are lower compared to Saudi rates in terms of recycling and there are evidently more positive public attitudes towards recycling in Saudi as compared to UK (www.recexpo.com).
Lastly, the future anticipation of both countries in terms of recycling shows a great difference. In UK, it is anticipated that the levels of recycling might remain constant over time while rates of waste production increases to about 26.5 million annually by 2020. This means that there is need for change in recycle policy in UK so as to ensure that more is recycled in future as well. Taking a similar view in Saudi, the rates of recycling appear to increase as year’s progress. This is what makes their anticipation of a waste free environment to be a close reality instead of a dream. This can be attributed to the fact that recycling in Saudi is coordinated and implemented by the central government thus catered for in national budget while in UK; it is the task of municipal councils which means less resources will be allocated to the process (Hanna, 2012).
In conclusion, the process of recycling helps reduce rates of pollution. This is what has led to increase in recycle rates all over the world. The exploitation of resources has also called for recycling so as to avert any problems of resource extinction. So as to have the most anticipated and environmentally friendly green energy, levels or recycling must be very high and effective. That is why I would urge UK and other countries under the same category to do something to make recycling effective and efficient.
References
http://www.recyclenow.com/
James B. 2012. Removing food remains to reduce waste. Recycling-guide.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-25
Hanna G. 2011. Recycling in England top 40% for the first time retrieved from
Joan F. 2010. Recycling in and waste management Saudi 2009, retrieved from
Albarwardi Group. 2010. Saudi Materials recycling company limited, retrieved from
Sharma A. 2012. Beyond recycling: Going green in Saudi Arabia, retrieved from
Riyadh Exhibition Company, 2009. Recycling and waste management Saudi: retrieved from
Arab news, Lack of recycling costs Kingdom SR 40 billion a year, retrieved from < www.arabnews.com/lack-recycling-costs-kingdom-sr-40-bn-year>
http://www.recexpo.com/exhibition_overview.php?id=130
