Qatar 2022 was billed the first carbon-neutral World Cup in the tournament’s history.
All 100% of the waste created during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been sorted and recycled in Qatar, the Ministry of Municipality said.
More than 271mn kilowatt-hours of power and over 35,000 tonnes of fertilisers were produced at the Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre (DSWMC) in Mesaieed last year, in addition to more than 27,000 tonnes of recyclable materials getting re-sorted, the Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie said.
It was the first such instance in the major tournament’s history that such a percentage of waste sorting and recycling had been achieved.
“Qatar managed to achieve zero waste after turning all waste gathered from all stadiums and fan zones into recyclable materials or clean energy at the Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre in Mesaieed,” he said.
The ministry said one of the most important achievements was developing a thorough plan for the safe disposal of used tires and finding recycling solutions with all relevant agencies.
Approximately 180,000 tonnes of tyres were disposed, with the help of local private sector companies and tyre recycling factories in the Al Afja area for recycling industries.
Al Subaie said the ministry currently recycles about 54% of the domestically generated waste from household, commercial and industrial waste and converts it into energy and fertiliser.
About 153 plots of land have also been designated for waste recycling and established for the use of private sector, including factories and companies involved in a bid to raise the culture of recycling waste in all its forms in the country.
Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani said the ministry’s desire to recycle falls under the Qatar National Strategy for Environment and Climate Change 2030.
Qatar’s green efforts
Qatar has adopted several initiatives over the years to become more sustainable.
Recycling at home
As part of its efforts to boost the recycling morale among its community members, Qatar is looking to distribute waste containers to every household in the country within the next five years.
The initiative, which aims to promote waste segregation at the source, is part of a broader programme by the Ministry of Municipality to increase recycling and support a circular economy.
In a bold push for recycling, the programme seeks to educate citizens on proper waste disposal practices and provide collection vehicles for sorted waste.
The waste containers will come in two types, and the aim of the project is to promote responsible waste management while reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.
“Grey container will be for food waste (organic waste) and blue container for recyclable materials. The trash cans will be of different sizes as per the need and will be placed outside the homes,” Al Shammari explained.
For a better community outreach of this initiative, the department is launching an awareness campaign in multiple languages to ensure that as many people as possible get the message.
“With intensified awareness campaigns, we are pretty sure to influence behaviour of people convincing them to make their contribution in the initiative,” Muqbil Madhour Al Shammari, Director of the General Cleanliness Department said.
Meanwhile, Qatar was the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean region to have all of its cities receive the World Health Organisation (WHO) designation of Healthy City as a result of significant efforts in implementing the principles and standards of environmental, health, and urban sustainability—one of the most important indicators of healthy cities.
