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DOHA: Moving further ahead towards sustainable development, Qatar is aiming to recycle 15 percent of the solid waste generated in the next four years.
“As the infrastructure works of the FIFA World Cup and related demolition and rebuilding of enterprises is nearing completion, the generated amount of construction waste is expected to decrease,” said Qatar Second National Development Strategy (NDS2).
“Moreover, the State is making significant efforts to increase the waste recycling rate and promote environmental awareness on reducing the quantity of domestic solid waste, making it possible to achieve the target of recycling 15 percent of solid waste over the course of the NDS-2,” added the document.
Qatar has fared well in the area of domestic waste generation compared to other countries. The country has succeeded in keeping the level of domestic waste at lower level compared to several countries. The generation rate of household solid waste is estimated at 2.1-4.1 kilogram (kg) per capita per day in GCC countries, 1.2 in the US, and 4.1 in European Union countries, compared to 1.6 kg per person per day in Qatar.
Domestic solid waste usually consists of different proportions of organic matter (food waste, etc), paper, plastics, glass, metals, fabrics, bones, leather, home dust, etc. Domestic solid waste in Qatar is the second largest source of waste after construction waste.
The generation of total solid waste (construction, domestic and others) increased from eight million tonnes in 2008 to 12 million tonnes in 2013. It however declined to 9.8 million tonnes in 2014 and continued to fall to 7.7 million tonnes in 2015.
The main reason behind the fall is a declining production of construction waste that constitutes 70-80 percent of waste.
Statistics for 2012 also show that approximately 3-6 percent of total solid waste was recycled, according to Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics data.
The total waste generated in the country has declined by around 32 per cent since 2011. According to the ‘Second Voluntary National Review, 2018’, the total waste declined from about 12.1 million tonnes in 2011 to about 8.2 million tonnes in 2017.
The government gives special attention to waste management and treatment, due to its keenness to reduce waste’s effects on health, maintain a civic view of the country, and promote waste reduction practices.
Standard recyclable materials include glass, paper, cardboard, metals, plastics, tires, textiles and electronics. A high proportion of construction waste, especially cement, brick and tile waste, is fully suitable for crushing and recycling as a replacement of gravel extracted from new quarries in some lower applications.
Qatar’s Second National Development Strategy (2018-2022) includes many goals that seek to ensure sustainable consumption and encourage efficient use of natural resources.
One of the goals is to preserve and develop water resources by reducing the total losses of potable water and reducing the per capita consumption of water by 15 per cent through the National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency by 2020. It also aims to reduce the depletion of groundwater and the development of the aquifer and strengthen the integrated management of water and electricity and reduce the rate of consumption of electricity per capita by eight per cent through Tarsheed.
