12. Responsible Consumption and Production

The University, represented by the College of Engineering, concluded the scientific sessions of the First International Conference on Sustainability of Natural Resources yesterday, Wednesday, 9/3/1441 A.H: Under the patronage of His Excellency Prof. Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Dawood, President of the University, and with the participation of 36 speakers in all the themes of this scientific meeting, which aims to discuss the necessary measures to transform into sustainable solid waste systems. The specialized scientific sessions of the conference discussed a number of the latest scientific papers, research and studies related to all the themes of the conference and how to benefit from them.

Engineer Mohammed bin Muzahim Al-Mutairi, Executive Master in Municipal Policy and City Development at King Saud University, and Dr. Waleed bin Saad Al-Zamil, Assistant Professor at the Department of Urban Planning at King Saud University, presented a research paper on mechanisms to rationalize food consumption of Saudi families as an entry point for food waste management in the Kingdom, which discussed the national vision to improve the urban structure of Saudi cities and improve the quality of municipal services by developing management and control policies for urban development, as municipal solid waste management is one of the challenges facing the administrations of major cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where municipal solid waste management is one of the challenges facing the administrations of major cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A research paper on effective waste management through promoting reusable packaging was also presented by Dr. Ahmed Bin Babader, Consultant at SARP, who said that waste is an old dilemma for the environment and societies, where it is necessary to deal with packaging waste as part of all waste. This paper aimed to propose an integrated method to reduce the amount of packaging waste by promoting reusable packaging in communities and industries, and a conceptual framework was designed through a review of the appropriate literature.

The scientific sessions also discussed a scientific paper titled "A hierarchical strategic approach to food loss and waste management to transform the Kingdom into a circular economy", presented by Dr. Noah Moaz from the College of Engineering at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University. He said that the concept of bioeconomy in recent decades is a global trend that applies to an appropriate and sustainable approach to solid waste management, with special emphasis on organic and food components, noting that food loss and waste management globally has been an issue that poses great challenges to sustainable development in many countries, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A research paper titled "Environmental and Financial Analyses of Waste Management Options in Medina", presented by Dr. Abdul Qader, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University of Medina, addressed solid waste management options that require the integration of economic and environmental principles in order to choose the best management method. This study analyzed how solid waste (MSW) is managed, generated and collected in the Medina region, as one of the largest cities in Saudi Arabia, with the aim of finding a management method with the lowest cost.

Dr. Mohammed Sharik, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, Ashray Saxena, Master's student, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, and Sarosh Suleiman, undergraduate student, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, University of Hanover, presented a paper on age-dependent mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete containing industrial waste: A Clean and Sustainable Solution, in which they emphasized that concrete has become one of the most consumed materials after water due to its widespread use in the construction industry globally with an estimated 25 billion tons of concrete used annually in construction, in India alone generating 165 -175 million demolition waste per year, most of this waste goes to landfills and creates disposal issues, the use of recycled aggregates in concrete construction can save natural resources, the use of recycled aggregate and industrial waste in concrete construction not only solves disposal issues, but also solves the environmental issues associated with it.

Dr. Ghulam Kabir, Assistant Professor of Industrial Systems Engineering at the University of Regina, Canada, and Dr. Kelvin T.W. Ng, Professor of Environmental Systems Engineering at the University of Regina, Canada, presented a scientific paper entitled Assessing the Economic Efficiency of Canadian Solid Waste Management Systems, which talked about sustainable and integrated solid waste management which has become a critical issue in societies around the world due to rapid urbanization and population growth. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of non-hazardous waste diversion systems considering economic outputs, expenditures, profits and business volumes for both public and private waste services

A paper titled Mandatory Aspects of Sustainable Waste Management in the MENA Region, presented by Aber Mohamed, Safwat Hamidat, Abdullah Nassour, Waseem Shaaban and Michael Niles, addressed solid waste management (SWM) as one of the main challenges facing developing countries, where the provision of adequate waste management services is critical due to the potential impact on public health and the environment. There are a number of major obstacles facing municipal solid waste management in the MENA region, including population growth in urban centers, lack of planning, lack of proper disposal, limited collection service, use of inappropriate technology and inadequate funding.

Dr. Faisal Ahmed Al-Asra, Assistant Professor at the College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture at Umm Al-Qura University, presented a paper entitled Characterization of Solid Waste in Makkah, in which he said that a characterization of the current municipal solid waste in Makkah was conducted to assess its suitability for various waste treatment technologies, explaining that the dominance of open dumping and the absence of reliable data on waste generation and characterization has created a difficult situation for urban local authorities responsible for managing the solid waste generated in the city, and in this study, samples of municipal solid waste collected from streets in different locations were analyzed.

As well as a study on the characteristics of household waste in Buraydah: A First Introduction to Good Waste Management, by Professor Ibrahim bin Saleh Al-Rubadi, Director of the Sustainable Development Center at the University, and Dr. Adel Al-Tayeb Abdelnour, Assistant Professor at the Department of Plant Production, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at the University, which discussed household solid waste that varies in its characteristics and components according to several circumstances, including the number of family members, nature of consumption, size of the house, and income level, and concluded with the identification of a footprint for waste.

A paper on evaluating the potential of natural zeolite and biochar in the bioconversion of the organic fraction of solid waste into organic fertilizers was presented. The research addressed the evaluation of adding natural zeolite found in Saudi Arabia, weed waste and biochar (10 and 15%) to food waste The compost quality was evaluated in terms of typical stability indicators such as moisture contents, degradation of organic matter, change in total carbon and difference in nitrogen components, and the results showed that both amendments had a positive effect on food waste compost in terms of all maturity parameters.

Radwan Al-Masri, Professor of Engineering at the University, Hussein Haidar, Assistant Professor of Engineering at the University, Mohammed Raad, and Aber Mohammed from the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Baath University, Syria, presented a scientific paper on the evaluation of a hybrid solar thermal and biomass system as a source of hot water supply in light of the increase in per capita electricity consumption in Saudi Arabia from 6.11 MW in 2004 to 9.41 MW in 2014.

A paper on sludge-based activated carbon production: Characterization, Optimization and Adsorption Study, presented by Mohammed Dawood and Mohammed Al-Malak from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. The paper discussed the use of sewage sludge to produce activated carbon using the chemical activation method with different chemical agents that include zinc chloride, potassium hydroxide and phosphoric acid.

A paper on the use of organic solid waste in the production of activated carbon and its application in the adsorption of dyes and heavy metals was presented by Abdullah Ba Saleh and Mohammed Al Malak from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. The paper addressed the issue of producing large amounts of solid waste (MSW) annually, as a total local solid waste of about 17 million metric tons is produced annually, containing two main components; plastic and organic waste, organic waste represents about 79%, food waste is the main source of the organic part, and the common practice of managing organic solid waste e

The paper Sustainable Approaches to Recovering Clean Renewable Energy from Solid Waste presented by Aruba Waqar, Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, and Ishtiaq Hassan, Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, on Integrated Solid Waste Management and the need to reduce the harmful environmental burden and associated social and health risks, where waste reduction, recycling and recovery are key components of Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM).

A research paper on the treatment of solid waste by anaerobic digestion to produce organic fertilizer and biogas, which talked about that local (municipal) solid waste such as food waste, livestock manure and sewage sludge that requires proper and environmentally acceptable management before final disposal, as it is a major source of air and water pollution. The aim of this study was to study the feasibility of producing biogas and methane from food waste and livestock manure in the first experiment and in the second experiment was to produce biogas and methane from sludge and livestock manure by a co-digestion system under moderate climatic conditions, the aim of this study was to study the feasibility of producing biogas and methane from food waste and livestock manure in the first experiment.

A scientific paper on the impact of recycling scrap rubber on sustainable development and environmental improvement was discussed, which explained that waste management is a major concern in improving the environment and sustainable development of any country, however, critics of waste management argue that recycling may have little benefit to the environment, pointing out that more energy may be used in obtaining the material to be recycled than the recycling process provides, although old rubber waste, especially old tires (scrap), is starting to appear in many waste streams, but available data shows the environmental performance of

A geophysical study was also presented on the impact of the Al-Mu'asim landfill on groundwater to develop options available for building its engineering cover, presented by Turki Musafir Al-Aboud, Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering and Islamic Architecture, Department of Civil Engineering, Umm Al-Qura University, who said that in order to preserve the environment, protect groundwater and manage waste, the Holy Capital Municipality plans to cover the old landfill in the Al-Mu'asim area and close it with an engineering cover that will prevent rainwater from reaching the interior of the landfill, mixing with its components and affecting groundwater quality in nearby wadis (valleys). In order to preserve the aerobic environment, it intends to establish a gas collection network and consider the possibility of utilizing it in energy production. Therefore, this research is concerned with studying the impact of the landfill on the groundwater in the region and identifying the extent of contamination in the nearby valleys.