Jordan's resource constraints, geopolitical challenges, and growing sustainability ambitions have made circular economy principles increasingly relevant to the country's future development. In this interview, Eng. Omar AlSaleh, Founder of the Circular Economy Club (CEC) Jordan, (hosted at the Royal Scientific Society), speaks to R. Keerthana about Jordan's roadmap, the gap between policy ambition and implementation capacity, and why supply chains in the region will only become resilient if neighbours solve circularity together. 

Jordan is resource-constrained and facing real environmental and economic pressure. How does that shape its approach to circularity? 

Omar Alsaleh: Jordan sits in an unstable region where conflict is more or less constant, layered on top of recent pandemics and global supply chain disruption. We are import-dependent and resource-scarce; we mostly process and assemble materials that arrive from elsewhere rather than manufacture from scratch, which makes us a transit nation. That leaves us exposed on both supply and demand.  

Circularity offers a strategic response to these vulnerabilities. It helps improve resource security, strengthen supply chain resilience, and create economic value by keeping materials and products in use for longer. It also enables us to diversify resource streams and rely more on locally available resources. 

At present, Jordan is largely focused on resource efficiency and waste management. However, waste management remains a significant challenge due to limited infrastructure. Collection, sorting, and properly engineered sanitary landfills are still developing. Circular economy principles encourage us to rethink waste altogether and ask a more fundamental question: why should waste exist in the first place? That reframes the economics toward something that creates revenue, preserves value, and creates jobs. 

Jordan has a circular economy roadmap underway and is preparing EPR implementation. Whose vision is this, government's or community's?   

Omar: Circularity is a shared vision across government, industry, and society because it aligns naturally with Jordan's economic realities.   

At the policy level, Jordan has made significant progress. We have developed one of the region's first National Circular Economy Roadmaps, a project I was proud to lead as Project Manager and Lead Developer on behalf of the Royal Scientific Society (RSS). The roadmap is now in its final stage of endorsement, while EPR is also advancing. In addition, there are initiatives related to industrial policy, eco-labelling, and green transition programmes. 

Industry feels this directly: EU regulation, including a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) and Green Deal circularity criteria, matters because it takes around 9% of our exports. The EU is a major trade partner acoounting for around 16% of Jordan's total trade in goods. 

At the community level, people want durable, good-quality products, but purchasing power is limited, and redesigning an existing system is much harder than building a new one.   

Beyond the roadmap and EPR, what other policy milestones matter here? 

Omar: The foundational document is the Economic Modernization Vision, endorsed by His Majesty King Abdullah II around three years ago, setting direction for circularity, green growth and AI adoption. That vision is the umbrella for the National Circular Economy Roadmap, the EPR framework, industrial policy and an eco-label initiative now in development. Our challenge has been less about generating initiatives and more about treating them as one connected picture rather than isolated pieces.  

What's the biggest challenge in this transition, beyond infrastructure? 

Omar: Infrastructure gaps remain a major obstacle, but perhaps the most important challenge is mindset.  

Many people still associate circular economy exclusively with recycling and waste management. In reality, circularity is a much broader framework that addresses economic, social, and environmental resilience simultaneously. 

We need to shift perceptions and help stakeholders understand that recycling is only one part of the solution. Circularity prioritises strategies such as product redesign, reuse, repair, and resource efficiency before recycling becomes necessary.  

Another challenge is the pace of transition. Transitioning and redesigning existing systems takes time, investment, and careful planning.  

Jordan's circular economy roadmap is nearing completion. What role does it play in the country's transition? 

Omar: The roadmap is intended to serve as a national navigator. It provides a common understanding of what circular economy means and outlines practical pathways for different sectors to transition. 

One of the biggest barriers we identified was the lack of a shared definition and vision for circularity. The roadmap addresses this by creating alignment among policymakers, businesses, academia, and civil society.  

We are currently in the final stages of endorsement and hope to see it formally launched soon. It will provide a framework that guides future initiatives and investments across the country. 

What was the founding story behind CEC Jordan? 

Omar: Sustainability work suffers from being jack-of-all-trades, and that doesn't work; specialization matters. We needed a credible, focused source for circularity, and CEC was already a recognised global brand. Just as important, we needed to define what circularity actually means, because that shapes what donors choose to fund. Previously, support for Jordan defaulted to downstream recycling, which struggled given our infrastructure, rather than the holistic approach that builds real resilience. CEC Jordan, hosted at the Royal Scientific Society, was built to fix that, first as a national expert hub, then expanding regionally. Nationally, in 2024, CEC Jordan in partnership with RSS organized the first high-level National Event on Circular Economy which introduced the holistic definition of circularity, showcased its power and vast potential beyond recycling, and officially launched the CE roadmap Project. 

That regional push accelerated last year with a national and regional awareness campaign run during an extended "Jordan Circular Cities Weeks," involving regional and local partners across policy, startups and academia. We also run pro bono consultations to help businesses identify where to start, and we stay flexible rather than working from a fixed agenda, because context keeps shifting under us, the war being the clearest example. 

CEC Jordan has more than 800 members. Who are they, and how are they engaged? 

Omar:  Our network includes professionals from government, academia, industry, civil society, start-ups, and international organisations. 

The Royal Scientific Society provides strong institutional support and helps expand our outreach and impact. 

We engage members through LinkedIn, public awareness campaigns, workshops, dialogue sessions, and partnerships. We also work closely with more than 40 local and international partners. 

Importantly, we focus on bringing the right stakeholders into discussions. Rather than hosting generic events, we design sector-specific engagements that address the unique challenges and opportunities facing different industries. 

What are CEC Jordan's priorities for the next five years? 

Omar: Our primary objective is to expand regionally and replicate successful elements of Jordan's experience. 

We want to help establish expert hubs across the region, creating a network of practitioners who can collaborate rather than operate in isolation. Building common language, shared frameworks, and regional partnerships will be critical. 

Circularity cannot succeed within national borders alone because supply chains are inherently interconnected. Resource security, material flows, and economic resilience all require cross-border cooperation. 

Ultimately, we see resource security becoming one of the defining issues for the region, and we want CEC Jordan to contribute to building collaborative solutions that strengthen resilience across the wider MENA region.

Resource security is the shared negotiation point that can bring neighboring economies to the same table, because no single country can solve it alone. Circular Economy is a National and regional security!