Delineating the plastic waste status in the State of Qatar: Potential opportunities, recovery and recycling routes

Abstract

The Qatar's national vision (QNV2030) underlines an unequivocal commitment to maintaining harmony between the three inter-dependent pillars of sustainable development: economic growth, social development and environmental management. Nonetheless, it seems that the country is set on a trajectory of unparalleled and rapid development that most waste management and environmental experts would, possibly, characterise as unsustainable; in addition it seems to repeat many of the "errors" that have been made in other parts of the world, including, for example, a lack of developed recycling and waste management infrastructure. The average Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generation rate per capita in the Gulf Co-operation countries (GCC) reaches almost 1.5 kg/person/d, with the State of Qatar being close to 1.4 kg/person/d during the past years, thereby ranking the Gulf States as some of the highest waste generating countries globally. Plastics, accounting for approx. 13-14% of the total MSW (in these countries), present both a significant amount as well as a valuable resource to be recovered. In the present work, the authors attempt to delineate the plastic recovery status, based on the current waste management and recycling infrastructure existing and operating in Qatar, outlying the drawbacks, but at the same time highlighting the potential opportunities and benefits in developing the waste management and recovery sector in the country.

Keywords: Circular economy; Plastic waste; Qatar; Recovery; Recycling.