A proposal to recycle Bahrain's municipal waste is one of four options being considered by the government.

The bid for the $200 million (BD75.6 million) recycling project has been put forward by Canada-based Zero Waste, which aims to recycle all of the country's waste, as well as launch nationwide waste reduction and recycling awareness programmes.

If the project is approved, it will create 785 jobs, mainly for Bahrainis, Zero Waste research and development director Dr Omar Al Halabi said.

The 270sqm recycling plant, to be located in Askar, would take about 18 to 20 months to be completed in four phases.

The project would cover an area of 500,000sqm to allow for expansion and an area for afforestation.

The plant will be able to sort 36 types of waste, including plastic, glass, metal, paper and so on. After sorting, the items will then go through various stages of recycling, such as grinding and cleaning.

'Bahrain produces 5,000 tonnes of waste every day - 3,700 tonnes is domestic waste and the rest is industrial - and zero waste is our target,' said Dr Al Halabi.