50 Million Cubic Meters of Rubble Outline the Features of Reconstruction in Syria

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The rubble recycling units in Daraya and Douma in Syria represent a model that can be generalized across the country to transform more than 50 million cubic meters of rubble into an economic resource that contributes to accelerating reconstruction and provides hundreds of job opportunities, instead of being an additional burden that hinders recovery efforts.

Official sources, project leaders, experts, and technicians explain, with data and figures, the mechanisms for benefiting from this rubble, which was left by the previous regime during its war on Syrians for more than 14 years, and the stages and locations where work is being carried out.

Hani Gabriel, the director of the asphalt mixing plant in al-Nayrab in Aleppo province, stated that the journey of recycling rubble begins with transporting gravel materials from crushers to the production center, then roasting them to raise their temperature, after which they are transferred to screens and scales to determine the required quantities, according to the Syrian News Agency "SANA."

He added that the materials are then transported to be mixed with 60/70 grade bitumen coming from the Homs refinery to produce asphalt mix.

As part of a project aimed at recycling 30,000 cubic meters, the rubble in Douma and Daraya is being transformed into a resource for reconstruction, with 84,000 cubic meters of rubble removed out of a total of 85,000, according to the Syrian Civil Defense.

The project's activities have so far included the crushing and sorting of 12,000 cubic meters of rubble, which will be utilized in service projects, providing more than 35 job opportunities.

In Homs, where the volume of rubble exceeds 8 million cubic meters, work on the project for the removal and recycling of rubble from the old garage area has been ongoing since March, with plans to expand to the affected neighborhoods.

The project, implemented in cooperation between the Homs Governorate and the Union of Construction Company representing the Turkish company "Erkış", aims over a period of about 3 years to convert the rubble into bricks, interlocking stones, and building materials.

In September, the "Fajr Al-Furat" project for the removal and recycling of rubble was launched in Deir ez-Zor, starting its work from the Al-Rashidiya neighborhood, with plans to later include the cities of Al-Bukamal and Al-Mayadeen.

The Director of Quality and Development in the "Fajr Al-Furat" project, Maher Othman, explained that recycled materials can be used in roads, asphalt mixtures, non-structural concrete, paving stones, and blocks, with the possibility of further developing them for structural use.

The project aims to remove, transport, and recycle about 8 million cubic meters of rubble, out of approximately 10 million cubic meters in the city.

The project, which is expected to last for 18 months, is being implemented in two phases; the first involves dismantling destroyed buildings and transporting the demolition waste, while the second involves processing it and extracting usable raw materials for reconstruction.

The amount of rubble that has been removed in Aleppo Governorate, with the consent of property owners, since the liberation of Syria is about 550,000 cubic meters, under the supervision of the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management.

Aleppo Governor, Azam Al-Ghareeb, stated that the recycled rubble is utilized in paving roads and their medians, in coordination with relevant authorities and local councils.

Abdulrahman Mohammed, a professor of finance and banking at the Faculty of Economics at Hama University, stated that organizing the recycling of rubble can create an integrated economic chain, including collection, transportation, sorting, processing, and production of building materials, which provides job opportunities and new investments, and contributes to reducing the costs of reconstruction and transportation and decreasing the need to import some raw materials.

He added that rubble can be transformed from waste into an economic resource by sorting and recovering reusable materials, such as rebar, concrete, stones, and bricks.

Mohammed confirmed that expanding the recycling of aggregates requires legislation, technical standards, and environmental regulations, in addition to encouraging investment and financing, noting that the proximity of processing units to demolition sites enhances the economic feasibility of projects.

The Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management, Raed Al-Saleh, stated that the total volume of rubble and debris in Syria is estimated at about 50 million cubic meters, of which about 3 million have been removed during the first eight months of 2026, indicating that a similar amount is targeted for removal during the remaining months of this year, to benefit from it in the production of building materials and the rehabilitation of roads.

Al-Saleh pointed out that the ministry also aims to achieve a "rubble-free Syria" by mid-2028.