Municipality Ministry Celebrates Global Recycling Day

Global Recycling Day

The Ministry of Municipality celebrated Global Recycling Day, which falls on March 18 of each year, intending to educate the public about the necessity and importance of recycling the waste in all its forms to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030.

On this occasion, the Ministry organized today a Qatari-French workshop on the circular economy and solid waste management, in cooperation with the Embassy of the French Republic to the State of Qatar, intending to strengthen cooperation between the two sides and benefit from French expertise in the field of adopting the circular economy to reduce environmental damage and a great waste of energy and achieve development goals sustainable.

The workshop was attended by HE Ambassador of the French Republic to Qatar Jean-Baptiste Faivre, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Services Affairs Sherida Sultan Al Rumaihi, Director of the Waste Recycling and Treatment Department Eng. Hamad Jassim Al Bahr and several officials and specialists in the field of waste management and treatment and the circular economy. Several French experts and specialists also participated in the workshop via videoconferencing.

In his speech during the workshop, Director of Waste Recycling and Treatment Department at the Ministry of Municipality Eng. Hamad Jassim Al Bahr stressed that the Middle East region, including the Gulf region, is considered one of the regions most affected by climate change and there are continuous efforts to improve waste management and rely on renewable energy sources to reduce pressure on raw materials, energy, and water resources, reduce waste generation, pollution and carbon emissions, to protect the planet.

Al Bahr explained that the State of Qatar was the first in the region to explore this approach on a large scale by building the Domestic Solid Waste Management Center (DSWMC) in Mesaieed, which has a capacity of about 2,300 tons per day and generates energy, biogas, and fertilizer production for use in agriculture.

Eng. Hamad Al Bahar indicated that in the context of interest in recycling waste, the state established an area dedicated to recycling factories in the Al Afja area and allocated lands to 50 factories, including activities: recycling tires, metals, medical waste, electronics, fertilizers, glass, construction waste, Wood, oils, plastics, batteries, paper, aluminum, etc.

He said that the Ministry of Municipality is devoting its efforts to develop an integrated national program for waste management and launched a campaign (zero waste) in late February, in the presence of the ministers of the municipality, environment and climate change, and education and higher education, to develop a methodology of thinking about waste management, and encouraging investment in the field of recycling, and supporting community participation in this field, to improve the quality of life and sustainable development to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030.

In exclusive statements, Engineer Hamad Jassim Al Bahr confirmed that the Ministry, represented by the Department of Waste Recycling and Treatment in the Public Services Affairs Sector, has achieved many major projects and achievements in the field of waste treatment and recycling during the year 2021, as the Waste Treatment Center of the Waste Recycling and Treatment Department produced 36,320 tons of fertilizer, 38,828,103 cubic meters of biogas, and 26,44 megawatts/hour) of generated electricity. He added that the center also produced (10,998) tons of plastic materials, 13,830 tons of iron, and 4,812 tons of non-ferrous materials, and a zero-waste rate for stadiums was achieved during the Arab Cup period, as the waste was transferred to the waste treatment center and was recycled and the recyclable materials were reclaimed for recycling. He stressed that this was a major achievement in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Director of the Waste Recycling and Treatment Department at the Ministry of Municipality pointed out that the department issued 14,000 electronic permits to remove waste for the department's sites, and (886) paper permits to remove organic waste sent to the waste treatment center, and 927,800 tons of recycled construction materials were produced in Rawdat Rashid landfill, 393,395 tires were treated at Rawdat Rashid landfill, 26,494 tons of tires were treated at Umm Al-Afai landfill, and 4,051 tons of recyclable materials such as plastic, paper and wood were given to factories working in recycling, for free from Mesaieed landfill.

He pointed out that (50) plots of land have been allocated to recycling factories, which will have a positive and significant impact on increasing the rate of recycling in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.

The Ministry of Municipality, represented by the Department of Waste Recycling and Treatment, participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) which was held in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12, 2021, in which the department's projects were presented, including the projects that achieve maximum efficiency in the use of resources by recycling waste and converting it into energy (bioenergy).

He revealed that the Ministry of Municipality launched a campaign of zero waste in late February, to develop a methodology of thinking about waste management, encouraging investment in the field of recycling, and supporting community participation in this field to improve the quality of living and sustainable development to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030. 

In his speech during the workshop, HE Ambassador of the French Republic to Qatar Jean-Baptiste Favre praised Qatar's efforts and the real commitment to enhancing waste management activities, adding that due to the rapid and continuous increase in the world's population, the amount of waste is increasing day by day, leading to the deterioration of the environment and many public health problems. He stressed the need for proper treatment of solid waste to prevent any harmful pollution to the natural environment.

HE the Ambassador said that waste production is inevitable in the economic system, but everyone must contribute to a more sustainable future by shifting to a circular economy. He added that when it comes to waste management, France and Qatar are like-minded countries with a collaborative approach to emulate.

The French ambassador indicated that the State of Qatar and his country have implemented promising strategies, as France adopted in 2020 its waste control law, which aims to transform the production and consumption system from a linear economic model to a circular economic model, noting that this law introduced a large number of measures, some of which considered the first of its kind in the world, to embrace the so-called "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy, for example, the obligation of producers to reuse or recycle unsold non-food products.

He added that French regulators are working closely with companies that deal daily with the issue of waste to help build new industrial skills and value chains, noting that Qatar also mobilized its energies to achieve the goals of the National Vision 2030, as the Ministry of Municipality implemented many initiatives to reuse all types of waste. He expressed his great admiration for the joining of many Qatari companies to this system.

The workshop included a presentation of the State of Qatar's strategy in the field of solid waste management, presented by Engineer Hind Saleh Hassan at the Projects and Development Department at the Ministry of Municipality. A number of topics were also reviewed, including implementing the circular economy to build a sustainable solid waste management system, collection, transportation, and recycling, French reactions, and technological innovations for converting waste to energy.

The celebration of International Recycling Day, on March 19 each year, aims to encourage everyone from institutions, companies, and individuals to sort and recycle waste, raise public awareness of the importance of recycling, reduce the use of one-time materials and encourage them to adopt proper behavior to promote sustainable development goals and achieve maximum efficiency in the use and sustainability of resources. 

QNA