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ABSTRACT he problem of municipal solid waste (MSW) management is critical to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). MSW contains two major components, organic waste and plastics. The organic waste is generated due to the extensive use of food, while the massive use of disposable stuff is the main source of plastic waste, especially during the visit of a large number of pilgrims every year. In the current scenario, the management of waste by conventional methods such as dumping causes significant environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, leachate production and soil contamination. The problems associated with the uncontrolled dumping can be avoided by shifting to waste-energy approaches, leading to economic and environmental sustainability. This review focuses on the current status of the waste disposal system in KSA and its environmental impacts. Based on the overall current situation and types of solid waste production in KSA, waste treatment methods such as anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis processes have been proposed. The anaerobic digestion could be used for treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, wherein the methane produced during the process can be used as fuel after up-gradation or converted to liquid fuels. On the other hand, pyrolysis is highly suitable for the treatment of plastic waste because of non-biodegradable nature and pyrolysis of plastics can result in the production of a variety of value-added products, such as fuel oil, char and gases. Keeping in view the positive aspects of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis, there is a great potential to use these technologies in …