49 percent of waste collected from FIFA World Cup stadiums recycled

Doha: To enhance state’s efforts to deliver the most sustainable and carbon-neutral  FIFA World Cup, about 49 percent of waste collected from stadiums, the venues of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 has been recycled so far.

“Tonnes of waste have been collected from stadiums, venues of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” said Eng. Samira Muhammad Al Dosari from the Department of Radiation and Chemical Protection of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, while speaking to Qatar Radio recently. 

“The collected waste, which include cardboard, plastic, glass are being sent to recycling factories run by the Ministry of Municipality,” said Al Dosari. She said that a part of these wastes are being converted into eco-friendly clean energy.

To enhance the recycling process, the Ministry of Municipality deployed a number of mobile waste transfer stations ahead of World Cup and added many more vehicles to its cleaning fleet. 

Doha South Transfer Station, which was designated for waste generated from the World Cup activities, has a capacity of about 1,300 tonnes per day. It is equipped with a primary sorting system for recyclable materials and transferring them to recycling plants. 

Transfer stations play an effective role in the collection of waste, facilitate the process of transporting them according to the latest technologies of international standard, to be transferred later to the waste treatment centre to complete the disposal process, and to generate electricity, produce fertilisers and extract recyclable materials.

The transfer stations receive waste from General Cleanliness Department in small trucks with loads ranging from 3 to 7 tonnes. These stations compress wastes into large-sized vehicles with a capacity of 22 tonnes after which these vehicles transport the compressed waste to the waste treatment centre.

The Ministry recently strengthened the cleaning fleet with 110 new vehicles equipped with the latest technologies. The experience of recycling wastes obtained during FIFA Arab Cup 2021 is proving to be a great help for the recycling practices during FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. 

In a statement issued by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy on November 6, it said that the extensive testing took place during the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.  

Waste generated from the 19-day tournament (FIFA Arab Cup 2021) was segregated into organic, plastic, metal, electronic and cardboard. Remaining waste was sent to the Ministry of Municipality’s Domestic Solid Waste Management Centre for further treatment in a waste-to-energy plant.