Waste Management and Recycling
These days waste is big business.
With a rising population in urban areas Saudi Arabia needs to be more and more conscious of the effects of waste on environmental pollution and habitat destruction. More than that, people should be educated that waste management is probably the fastest growing industry in the world, and is not only necessary to protect our environment but is a huge source of materials and money. Since money is to be made, the future of waste management is bright!
Yet all this waste is quite literally a gold mine. Waste in the form of old computers and mobiles and household electronics contain gold, silver, nickel, platinum and rare earth metals - all this can be recycled. Hospital waste from x-rays contains valuable silver halide. Plastic and glass waste can be re-melted and reused. Paper and cardboard waste can be recycled to make paper and even cloth for clothes. In fact almost everything that we use can be reused or recycled. Once sorted and reprocessed waste can be a high source of income. Waste water from houses and sewage can be used to generate methane gas as a biofuel before filtering and treatment.
Of course waste management also needs scientists and engineers to create machines to sort and process waste and develop better chemical and industrial processes to recycle that waste.
This is where PMU students can make a real difference. If students pursue projects in waste management, they can shape our future as well as the environment we live in.