HE Minister of Municipality Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie and HE Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sheikh Dr. Faleh bin Nasser Al-Thani reviewed today Qatar’s efforts in establishing a culture of sustainability and waste recycling. This was highlighted during a panel discussion held within the activities of the second and final day of 3rd Recycling Towards Sustainability Conference & Exhibition.
During the panel discussion, HE Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie stressed the interest of the State of Qatar, under the leadership of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in the circular economy sector, sustainability and recycling, and its keenness to develop it.
HE the Minister of Municipality noted that the Ministry today recycles approximately 54% of the waste generated from household, commercial and industrial waste in the country, and converts it into energy or fertilizer, indicating that about 153 plots of land have been allocated for waste recycling and designated for the private sector, including factories and companies concerned in order to encourage these entities to recycle waste in all its forms.
The ministry, in cooperation with a number of relevant authorities, has appointed an expert house to conduct a study to assess the state of waste in the country, he said, pointing in this context to the development of several indicators to reduce waste, including a study of the percentage of recycling and re-conversion into energy, and other uses, and a study of the per capita share of waste in the State of Qatar, which amounts to 1.3 kg per day compared to developed countries, where the average is 1.58 kg per day.
He added that these numbers are a good indicator of the situation in the State of Qatar, stressing the Ministry of Municipality’s keenness to improve this percentage by educating the public and its ambition to reach a 95% recycling rate by the end of 2030.
HE the Minister of Municipality said the ministry was keen to get rid of construction waste and entered into a contract with Qatar Primary Materials Company to collect and recycle such waste for use in new projects. A number of legislations have also been issued and put in place to reduce waste by issuing an initiative obligating waste sorting at the source in blue and gray containers for recyclable and non-recyclable materials.
His Excellency also stressed the important role of the private sector in this endeavor as the sector executing the projects, noting that the private sector will have a major role in developing the Al-Afjah area dedicated to the recycling industries in the country in which the pillar of the circular economy will be located as new factories and a new engineering landfill will be opened in it.
HE Minister of Municipality Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie also noted that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a major role in the future in generating and sorting waste. This will be done through initiatives that will see the light of day soon, integrating AI in sorting and recycling works.
He highlighted the role of scientific research and community initiatives through the efforts of the ministry’s teams, in cooperation with schools and civil society organizations, to raise awareness about recycling principles through the 18 basic rules of reducing waste. He also referred to the awareness campaigns launched by the ministry as part of the ‘zero waste’ initiative to educate the new generation about recycling, praising the positive indicators among male and female students regarding their awareness and understanding of the importance of sustainabilitys role and the need to sort waste at the source.
Source: Qatar News Agency