Gulf Statistical Agency: Waste management market in GCC states to exceed $104 billion by 2031

• Four Gulf countries, including Kuwait, rank globally in the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Index

The Statistical Center of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced on Sunday that GCC economies have achieved rapid expansion in the infrastructure for waste processing, recycling, and resource recovery, noting that the annual growth rate of processed waste reached 6.2 percent in 2024.

In a report issued by the Center on waste management in the region, it stated that the sector has transformed from mere municipal services into a “promising and highly attractive investment market” for capital and strategic partnerships with the private sector, particularly in areas such as the treatment of hazardous industrial and medical waste, material recycling, metal and vehicle recovery, and the re-refining of used oils.

The Center added that the total volume of waste collected in GCC countries reached 283.5 million metric tons in 2024, marking an annual increase of 20.4 percent compared to 2023, while the volume of processed waste grew annually by 6.2 percent, reaching 69 million metric tons.

Regarding the waste management market, the Center valued the GCC market at approximately 68.3 billion US dollars in 2025, projecting its growth to over 104 billion dollars by 2031, at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 7.3 percent during the period 2025–2031.

The Center outlined the structural distribution of waste flows collected and processed in GCC countries in 2024, indicating that non-hazardous waste constituted the majority of total collected waste in the region, accounting for 97.1 percent, compared to 2.9 percent for hazardous waste.

Regarding processing, it clarified that hazardous waste accounted for 11.7 percent of the total processed volume, an increase of 1.8 percentage points compared to 2023, when it stood at 9.9 percent, while non-hazardous waste accounted for 88.3 percent.

Concerning hazardous waste treatment patterns, the Center pointed to the diversity of technical methods used in the region, noting that modern methods, including physical and chemical treatment, resale, and reuse, accounted for the largest share at 61.1 percent, followed by recycling at 21.6 percent, sanitary environmental landfilling at 15.5 percent, and incineration at 1.9 percent.

It further indicated that collected construction and demolition waste recorded the highest annual growth rate among all key indicators, reaching 26.5 percent to total 226.6 million metric tons in 2024, compared to 179.1 million tons in 2023, 136.7 million tons in 2022, and 109.9 million tons in 2021.

The Center stated that this statistical growth coincided with the “urban boom and infrastructure projects in GCC countries,” as the gross domestic product (GDP) of construction and building activities rose from 130.7 billion dollars in 2021 to 187.8 billion dollars in 2024, achieving growth of 43.6 percent. Concurrently, the number of workers in the sector increased from 3.3 million to 4.7 million, a rise of 42.4 percent.

The report highlighted the rapid growth in the Gulf industrial sector alongside the growth in the sector’s value added, as the GDP of industrial activities increased from 885.4 billion dollars in 2021 to 1.256 trillion dollars, and the number of industrial workers rose from five million to 7.5 million.

Regarding the internationally recognized infrastructure for treating hazardous industrial waste under the Basel Convention, the Center stated that GCC countries host 28 specialized facilities for recycling hazardous industrial waste and recovering metals and metal compounds, with an average annual growth rate of 20.1 percent during the period from 2019 to 2024.

The region also includes 43 certified facilities for re-refining and reusing used oils, with an average annual change rate of 25.2 percent during the 2019–2024 period.

The Center noted that the Gulf health sector’s production of hazardous medical waste reached 134,600 metric tons in 2024, accounting for 1.6 percent of total hazardous waste generated. This represented an annual increase of 14.3 percent, while the volume of collected waste rose by 14.6 percent compared to 2023.

This expansion was linked to the growth of human health sector activities, as the sector’s gross domestic product increased from $63.1 billion in 2019 to $83.9 billion in 2024. The number of hospitals grew by 10.6 percent, rising from 812 to 898, and the total number of health workers increased from 755,000 to 1.054 million.

To ensure the safe disposal of waste, the GCC countries operate 27 dedicated sites for incinerating hazardous medical waste, with a total design capacity of approximately 176,000 metric tons.

The Center affirmed the region’s leadership in solid waste management, presenting trends in municipal and agricultural waste after total collected waste reached 48.8 million metric tons in 2024, reflecting a cumulative growth of five percent between 2017 and 2024. Household waste accounted for more than 45 percent of total collected municipal waste.

Highlighting the region’s global environmental leadership, the Center pointed out that four Gulf countries—Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and the Sultanate of Oman—achieved a perfect score, ranking first globally in the Sustainable Solid Waste Management Index within the Global Environmental Performance Index published by Yale University.

Regarding the agricultural sector and organic waste, the Center explained that collected agricultural waste rose by a significant cumulative rate of approximately 80 percent between 2017 and 2024, coinciding with the growth of agricultural GDP to approximately $40 billion. The UAE led in collected volumes with 2.4 million tons, followed by Kuwait with 600,000 tons.

The Center reaffirmed the GCC countries’ full compliance with international environmental treaties, noting that hazardous waste exports from the GCC to other countries reached 800,000 metric tons in 2024, in accordance with Basel Convention regulations. It further highlighted that the cumulative number of national reports submitted by GCC countries to the Convention Secretariat reached 92 reports, underscoring the integrity of environmental governance and statistical transparency in the region.

The Statistical Center of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, headquartered in the Sultanate of Oman, was established in 2011 as the official authorized body for data, information, and statistics related to the GCC countries. It also plays a role in enhancing statistical and informational efforts among national statistical centers and planning authorities within the region.