SOHOM members during a tour of Elite Paper Recycling yesterday.
Spouses of Head of Missions (SOHOM) highlighted the importance of recycling during a tour of Elite Paper Recycling (EPR) yesterday.
Led by its President Anika Moosa, the spouse of the South African Ambassador to Qatar, the group was given a tour of the plant by Chairman Abdallah Al Suwaidi. They were shown how paper wastes were processed into eco-friendly and sustainable end products.
EPR is the top paper recycling eco-friendly environmental enterprise. The company collects 4,500 tonnes of waste collected per month and exports to over 25 countries worldwide, including Kuwait, Oman, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Tanzania, Sudan, and China.
“We would like to thank the team at Elite Recycling for this tour and for contributing towards the change the world needs. With more initiatives like this, we can have a better future. Recycling is important in today’s world if we want to save this planet for our future generations. We should teach our children that recycling begins at home. If you are not throwing away any of your old products and instead utilizing them for something new, then you are recycling,” Moosa noted.
“Since recycling saves energy, it also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps tackle climate change. Recycling can benefit the community and the environment. By recycling, we can have sustainability, and by being environmentally conscious, we can ensure a better world for the future.
“If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, designed, or removed from production,” she added. Meanwhile, Al Suwaidi said the company collects the waste paper from supermarkets, hypermarkets, ministries and is in partnership with more than 400 schools, neighbourhoods, and homes.
“In the beginning, nobody really cared about recycling, and we couldn’t find this much material. But now people call us to come to collect wastes which we do free of charge to encourage people to get involved in saving the planet.”
The SOHOM members also visited the Eco Dome, which displays scenarios of a healthy and green planet and a dying planet due to poor waste disposal using virtual reality.
According to Al Suwaidi, the Dome is a means to educate people, especially children. It is an edutainment awareness tool allowing the young generation to learn through experience on recycling and sustainability.
During the tour, EPR Business Strategy Advisor Catina Aghayan said the company has several MoUs with several embassies in its Green Embassies Programme. She also urged other embassies to join the initiative.
