Qatar residents, don’t trash your water bottles, newspapers and soda cans yet!

Recycling bins have recently been placed at popular spots across Doha as part of a COP18/CMP8 legacy project to help green Qatar, the Ministry of Environment has announced.

Paper, plastic and aluminum cans can be placed in the bins, which have been installed in the COP18 pods at Landmark, Villaggio and City Center malls, as well as at the Corniche’s Oryx and Sheraton Park, Katara, MIA Park, Souq Waqif, MOMA, the Pearl and Aspire Park.

They were installed after pod volunteers mentioned how frequently residents asked about recycling programs here.

It is unclear how long the pods will stay up, but a bulk recycling unit has been set up opposite the MOE, and the goal is to roll out a recycling program nationwide, a COP18 statement says.

It continues:

The ambition of the Qatar National Development Strategy is to recycle 38% of solid waste by 2016 and the community is on board with wanting to reach the target. Preserving the environment for future generations is a value shared among Qataris and environmental awareness is part of the 2030 vision. 

The use of the bins and the recycling station will be monitored, along with how much waste is actually recycled and how much energy has been saved. It is hoped that this information will be used to begin a community-wide recycling programme and to set national targets for the remainder of the COP18/CMP8 Presidency. 

Has anyone deposited their waste at the bins?

Thoughts?

UPDATE | Dec. 1, 2012

The COP18 information pods will be taken down when the conference ends Dec. 7, but nearly a dozen large bins like the one erected in front of the MOE will start going up across Qatar for residents to drop off their recyclables, an official has told Doha News.

The bins will be erected at major malls like Villaggio, City Center, Landmark and Lagoona, as well as the MIA, Souq Waqif and in Al Khor and Dukhan. 

According to Beirut-based recycling company Averda, which has been commissioned to manage the waste at these locations, the recycling pilot program will run for one year.

“For this specific project, we’ll be collecting the waste, taking it to our facilities, putting it through mechanical segregation lines, compacting them into bales and transporting them to recycle,” Tarek Khouri, the company’s managing director in Qatar, told Doha News.

Paper products will be recycled in Qatar, as well as (most) of the plastic bottles the company collects. Plastic bottle caps, aluminum cans and the balance of the plastic bottles will be sent to the UAE and KSA for recycling, Khouri said, adding that no waste will go unrecycled.

Credit: Photo by Shabina S. Khatri