In a virtual seminar organized recently
The Social and Economic Survey Research Institute at Qatar University discusses the executive plan for the country's institutional waste recycling project
In conjunction with International Recycling Day, the Office of Sustainable Development in the Policy Department at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University held a closed virtual discussion entitled “Discussion of the Executive Plan of the institutional food waste management project in the State of Qatar”, on Thursday, March 18, 2021, with the participation of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, and the Qatar Red Crescent. The workshop aimed to discuss the implementation plan of the institutional waste management project, in preparation for its implementation.
The institutional food waste management project aims to reduce air pollution resulting from methane emissions, exacerbation of diseases resulting from air pollution. The presence of large food waste is considered a threat to lands and soil, by taking advantage of the presence of effective charitable institutions that can have an important role in participating in implementation of national projects.
The seminar included a welcoming speech by Prof. Kaltham Al-Ghanim, Director of SESRI, in which she praised the effective role of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the Qatar Red Crescent in serving the community and supporting sustainable development projects in order to achieve Qatar National Vision 2030. Dr. Al-Ghanim also noted the research role of the Institute in the field of supporting national institutions with high-quality research, through a research team with high expertise in survey studies, evaluating community policies, and measuring public opinion.
On her part, Dr. Noora Lari, Director of the Policy Department at the Institute, explained the types of projects offered by the Policy Department, and its interest in the country's national strategies and meeting its needs for scientific research and accurate reports. In addition, Dr. Sana Abusin, principal investigator of the project from SESRI, gave a brief overview of the project and its objectives, the most important of which is: creating a balance between the exploitation of natural resources and their protection for future generations at the same time. The objectives also include cooperation with relevant sectors on national priority projects, enhancing food security, and raising societal awareness of sustainable development.
From the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Engineer Hamad Al-Bahar, Director of the waste management and recycling department, spoke of the ministry’s executive plan, and stressed that the waste managment center of the Ministry of Municipality and Environment is the largest center of its kind in the Middle East, as it produces 200 tons of fertilizer per day. Engineer Hamad pointed out that community cooperation has the most returns in projects that have an environmental impact, as the ministry is responsible for landfills and has clear mechanisms for cooperation with companies and related bodies with high professionalism.
In turn, Ms. Hanadi Hassan of the Qatar Red Crescent presented the implementation plan of the latter and its role in the project and enhancing the value of partnership between members of society due to its effective role in the voluntary and institutional scale.
Notably, the idea of the project is based on two basic elements: separating organic waste and recycling it into organic fertilizer that can be used for several places, such as public parks and home gardens or farms, contributing to afforestation projects, increasing green spaces and distributing organic fertilizer for free in order to raise awareness and contribute to improving the quality of the climate and lowering temperatures in addition to social welfare.