RIYADH — The areas of green spaces, parks and gardens in the municipal sector have expanded by 9% during 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT) said, noting that this comes in line with the Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) and Middle East Green Initiative (MGI), GASTAT said that the waste water treatment stations in 2021 have reached 133 stations, recording an increase by 15% compared to the same period in 2022. Riyadh has the highest number of waste water treatment stations with 26 stations, followed by Asir with 20 stations, then the Eastern region (Al-Sharqiyah) with 19 stations. Regarding land reserves, GASTAT clarified that it has expanded to reach 324,000 square kilometers in 2021, constituting 16% of the total area of Saudi Arabia. GASTAT noted that this came after the government allocated 7 royal reserves in 2018 and 5 reserves in AlUla in 2019, while the area of marine reserves amounted to more than 12 km2 in 2021. The recycled industrial waste in Jubail and Yanbu amounted to 340,000 ton in 2021, recording an increase by 23% compared to 2020, GASTAT said, clarifying that the recycled industrial waste constituted 62% of the amount of collected waste in Jubail and Yanbu in 2021. It added that the volume of the reused treated water amounted to 419 million cubic meters in 2021, recording an increase by 24% compared to 2020. The percentage of the reused treated water in 2021 reached 22% of the total treated water.
