The Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), in its role in providing leadership and promoting environmentally sustainable practices for green building design and development has brought together experts from the organic waste management industry at a seminar held today in Doha. The seminar held under the theme ‘Organic Waste Management in Qatar: Problems and Solutions’ also marks the inaugural event with QGBC’s new hospitality partner Wyndham Grand Regency.
The seminar was opened by Dr Sarah Clarke, Coordinator of the Solid Waste Interest Group (SWIG) at QGBC. Dr. Clarke also chaired a panel discussion that was held on infrastructure, education and policies required to effectively and efficiently deal with organic waste in Qatar.
Through the seminar endorsed by SWIG, QGBC hopes to relay to the public the magnitude of recent findings showing that more than 50 % of the municipal solid waste generated in Qatar is organic waste. Against this background QGBC continually pursues further partnerships with organizations in developing solutions to address this issue.
This initiative directly correlates to the goals set out in the Qatar National Development Strategy (QNDS) 2011-2016 which recommends a multi-faceted approach to management of waste through a unique hierarchy model that centers on waste-avoidance.
New and existing technologies and management systems were showcased at the event. Among the speakers, Michael Allan, Section Leader at the Anaerobic Digestion & Composting Plant, Mesaieed, Qatar spoke about the role of the facility at Domestic Solid Waste management centre in processing Qatar’s organic waste. Bassel Baaklini, General Manager, Contra International, Lebanon, introduced the Zero Waste Act (ZWA) approach to recycling. ZWA combined with the waste to energy converter technologies, according to Baaklini, may be used to improve Qatar’s recycling levels and environmental impacts.
Greg Hills, Technical Projects Director at BG2 spoke about planning and implementing effective municipal organic waste management systems, drawing on his experience from the UK and Saudi Arabia. The BiobiN that was presented by Daniel Mitroussidis, Director, Innovative Total Solutions Australia (ITSA) also had its Qatari premiere at the event. The BiobiN is a composting unit suitable for any location with a high organic waste output such as a market, food court, large compound, shopping mall or hotel complex.
Dr. Alex Amato, Head of the Research and Innovation Committee at QGBC, commented “Through this seminar, we hope to usher in a new wave of technologies and solutions to support the efforts of the Ministry of Environment in realizing the goals of the QNDS 2011-2016. We hope to initiate pilot projects at various locations in Doha to determine the effectiveness of these technologies in Qatar’s unique environment.”
QGBC has worked in collaboration with ITSA and the Al Dousary Veterinary Services & Agriculture Company to bring the model-project to Qatar. The BiobiN Waste Management System will safely remove hazardous and odorous elements from organic waste material, whilst recycling the waste into safe, environmentally friendly and rich organic compost. This technology has been implemented successfully in UAE, India, South Africa and Australia.
