Doha, Qatar: The second phase of the waste sorting at source programme will begin in October when all households will be provided containers for throwing recyclable materials and organic waste separately, said a top official.
“The programme in its second phase will target Doha at first. It will run over two years until 2025 and will cover all households,” said Director of General Cleanliness Department, Muqbil Madhour Al Shammari.
Speaking to Qatar TV recently, he said that the waste sorting at source programme will be launched in Umm Salal, Al Daayen, Al Khor and Al Shamal in 2026.
“By the end of 2027, the programme will be implemented in Al Rayan, Al Wakra and Al Sheehaniya,” said Al Shammari. He said that the programme run by the Ministry of Municipality aims to boost recycling for sustainability and circular economy in line with Qatar National Vision 2030.
“Under the project, waste containers will be distributed to all households – citizens and expatriates. A pilot project has been implemented in the Jalia area of Al Dafna successfully where 185 containers are distributed to households,” said Al Shammari.
He said that the Department in coordination with the authorities concerned will launch many initiatives to accelerate the implementation of waste sorting at source programme.
“The first phase of the waste sorting at source programme began in 2019 and it covered schools and health centres. In 2020, the programme was implemented in hotels, and public parks. Many government buildings and banks were added in 2021,” said Al Shammari.
He said that the remaining government buildings and venues of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 were covered in 2022. “The World Cup facilities alone received about 1,400 containers,” said Al Shammari.
Two types of trash cans will be provided to households. The grey container will be for food waste (organic waste) and the blue container for recyclable materials. The trash cans will be of different sizes as per the need and will be placed outside the homes.
The department will launch an awareness programme in multiple languages to reach the maximum number of people. A team from the department will be assigned to communicate with those handling waste at home, educating them on how to use the trash cans properly.
Following Qatar National Vision 2030, the Ministry of Municipality is running a waste sorting at source programme. The programme aims at reducing the amount of waste and managing the environment in a way that ensures harmony and consistency between economic and social development and environmental protection.
The purpose of the programme is also to preserve natural resources for future generations and using recyclable materials to reduce the demand for raw materials and support the private sector by providing them with recyclable materials.
