Rania Abu Sharkh

Jordanian environmental engineer leading the Middle East's first zero-waste cities initiative

Rania Abu Sharkh (b. 1990) is a pioneering environmental engineer who developed the Zero Waste MENA framework, transforming Amman into the first city in the Arab world to achieve 85% waste diversion rates by 2024. Her Waste2Wealth enterprise employs 2,000+ Jordanians converting municipal waste into construction materials through patented thermal depolymerization processes. Abu Sharkh's 2022 TED Talk 'From Garbage to Gold' has over 5 million views and influenced UAE's 2030 waste management policies. She co-authored the UNEP Middle East Waste Management Blueprint, and her team's plastic-to-asphalt technology paved 50km of Jordan's highways by 2023. Forbes Middle East named her 'Sustainability Leader of the Decade' in 2024, highlighting her role in reducing regional landfill use by 60% since 2020.