Article 5 of the Saudi Waste Management Law

المادة 5 من نظام إدارة النفايات · الفصل الثاني: أحكام عامة

The article obliges everyone carrying out a waste management activity to deliver the best environmental and economic results according to these priorities: recycling, then resource recovery, then safe disposal.

Official text (Arabic)

This article has not been amended since the law was issued.

على كل من يمارس نشاطاً يتعلق بإدارة النفايات تقديم أفضل النتائج البيئية والاقتصادية، وفق الأولويات الآتية:

1- التدوير.

2- استرداد الموارد.

3- التخلص الآمن.

This is the official Arabic wording, the only legally binding version. We do not translate the law itself; the explanation below is ours. Official source: Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers

Article 5 explained in plain English

This article sets a ladder of priorities to be followed by everyone who carries out an activity relating to waste management, who is required to deliver the best environmental and economic results.

The priorities are ordered as follows:

Recycling: under Article 1, converting certain components of waste into usable materials in order to recover them or use them as raw materials in manufacturing.
Resource recovery: extracting energy, raw materials or any other product from waste and using it again.
Safe disposal: safe storage or dismantling by an engineered method that prevents pollution, such as engineered landfills and equipped incinerators.

The order is deliberate: recycling comes first because it returns the material to use, then resource recovery such as extracting energy, and safe disposal remains last.

The article does not detail how delivering the "best results" is measured or when it is permissible to move from one priority to another, so nothing more is assumed than the order it states.

This article comes together with Article 4, which requires a license or permit for any activity relating to waste management, and Article 6, which obliges those running voluntary programs and initiatives in waste management to meet the Center's controls.

If you have a practical case relating to this provision, it is best to consult a lawyer who specializes in environmental and administrative laws.

Practical example

A licensed company in Jeddah receives plastic waste from factories. Under this article, it must give priority to recycling first, then, for any part where that is not possible, resource recovery, with safe disposal last.

Translated from our Arabic explanation with machine assistance. For guidance only; it does not replace advice from a lawyer on your situation.

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