The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME)’s General Cleanliness Department launched a two-month beach cleaning campaign at the northwestern beaches of the country on Tuesday.
A campaign expected to clean up beaches from Abu Zallouf city up to Zekreet, has been launched by Qatar’s authorities on Tuesday.
The campaign, stretching for more than 150km, is sectioned in three phases starting from Al Aresh Beach area (29km), followed by beaches stretching from Umm Haiysh over 70km to Khawazan, and finally Zekreet (over 80km).
It comes amid an active camping season in the country which has seen beaches being
heavily littered with disposable and plastic waste. Most recently, surgical masks, plastic gloves, and bottles of sanitiser that have joined a list of long time offenders.
Beach cleanups became an essential task in achieving Qatar’s commitment to its National Vision 2030 plan and to the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030.
According to EcoMena, Qatar produces more than 2.5 million tons of municipal solid waste each year, and has one of the highest per capita waste generation rates worldwide of up to 1.8 kg per day, where only 8 percent of that waste is recycled.
This is not the first time the Ministry of Municipality comes up with such an initiative. MME has always invested in cleaning beaches and public places campaigns in various regions of Qatar.
Read also: Top 6 Qatar camping, beach spots to visit this season
While beach cleanups have helped clean and remove a lot of trash from Qatar’s landscapes, “the only way to really make a difference is to stop plastics from entering the ocean in the first place,” said Neeshad Shafi, a Climate Advocate, Energy and Policy Expert on the Middle East.
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