Damascus, Services’ department every day dispose of 14,000 tons of wastes, nearly half of them are organic materials that can be converted into fertilizers, according to local official statistics.

The second half of the quantity of wastes will remain raw materials for factories specializing in the recycle of paper, glass, plastic, and others.

While some of the wastes are produced to meet the needs of the market and are sufficient for export, many other industrialists – especially in the sector of paper recycling- suffer from the shortage of raw materials in the light of decreasing number of printing of newspapers, magazines, and books, particularly with the spread of coronavirus.

“The waste recycling industry adds value to the economy, improves environmental conditions, reduces heat emissions and pollution, and enhances the principle of environmental sustainability and productive work” according to Dr. Jamal Qanbariya, owner of a paper recycling facility for the production of toilet rolls.

However, according to Qanbariya, paper recycling suffers from a big lack in the availability of the raw material after the newspapers and magazines stopped and book production decreased due to the high cost of paper, in addition to the increase in production costs as a result of the rise in energy and electricity carriers and the wages of specialized labor.

He added that importing waste papers saves nearly $ 5 million per year to the State’s budget.

In contrast to the paper recycling, the plastic recycling acquires a better position, with a large production that covers the needs of the domestic market with the possibility of export, according to Mohammad Shbat, director of a plastic recycling factory.

Shbat added that the factories save a lot of foreign currency by dispensing with import. He hopes that facilities would be given to owners of recycling factories, including electricity, granting licenses as the recycling contributes to the disposal of wastes in a useful way and supports the national income.

Director of services’ department, for her part, said that sorting of wastes is a process that starts at the sorting factories to benefit from the materials which can be recycled, such as plastic, glass, paper and others, but as for organic materials, they will be converted into fertilizers.

Source: Syrian Arab News Agency