Qatar 2022/ "One Tide"... Initiative to Confront Dangers of Waste

Doha, November 17 (QNA) - In conjunction with the launch of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the Zero Waste Festival events are set to kick off as part of the "One Tide" initiative launched by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) in March with the aim of raising the awareness of the community on the importance of reducing waste. The festival highlights the quantity of waste generated from the daily activities of the community's individuals and their adverse impact on environment with a special focus on providing the essential tips and advices on waste reduction strategies, through several interactive presentations and activities in pursuit of promoting awareness and encouraging further adherence to proactively follow up the practices that preserve a healthy and safe environment for generations to come. Operators of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 have been committed to laying out sustainability initiatives and programs over many years through which they have made significant strides. The One Tide initiative is considered a perfect opportunity to consolidate sustainability achievements and highlight the adherence to reduce the impact of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 hosting on environment, with the world's eyes starting to turn to Qatar while the date of the historic tournament approaches. One Tide’s Zero Waste Festival falls within SC’s efforts to lay out a wider program of events with the aim of raising the level of awareness and admonishing the individuals to take ample steps that create positive change in the Qatari community, in pursuit of reducing the harmful impacts of waste on environment. Torba Farmers Market is poised to roll out the green guide to farmers that will ensure the best societal and sustainable initiatives in Qatar, along with the list of the pioneering companies in the field of adopting the practices that aim to protect and conserve the environment, including the provision of the best recycling services. The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Sustainability Strategy plays an effective role in promoting the positive impact of the tournament, building sustainable legacy at the level of conserving the environment, contributing to achieving the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030 and supporting the UN Sustainable development Goals. For more than a decade, SC has been committed to hosting a sustainable edition of the World Cup by observing all aspects of sustainability in the tournament projects, and has devoted the legacy of the past twelve years to drawing up the plans, carrying out the building and construction works, testing the efficiency for operations and setting its sights on offering an exceptional experience for all, with the keenness of putting sustainability on the top priorities, because sustainability is considered a critical element in the success of the tournament, and has been a major focus for the tournament since Qatar submitted the file of hosting this event. Chemicals and petrochemicals sector plays a vital role in organizing the major sporting events that observe sustainability aspects taking into consideration the challenges involved in hosting such events, since the sector of chemicals and petrochemicals can leave a positive impact on the sustainable practices through encouraging the fans, partners and the entities that sponsor the major events to take practical steps to strengthen the efforts of achieving the environmental sustainability goals. Among the most prominent successful experiences in this respect is Qatar's hosting of 2021 FIFA Arab Cup that featured the execution of several initiatives to reduce waste in the stadiums that hosted the competitions, especially the single-use plastic materials, where SC managed to achieve impressive outcomes, and adhered to never transfer any waste from the tournament stadiums to the waste landfills, whereas Al Bayt Stadium had recycled the waste with 70%. In addition, SC pursued effective methods to reduce the waste, including the provision of meals to the task forces from buffets in lieu of premade meals packaged in plastic bags. Also, refillable 5 gallons of water jugs were used in lieu of the single-use plastic bottles. The One Tide campaign is considered one of the important initiatives that aims to host a tournament free of plastic pollutants through increasing the awareness of fans, promoting the culture of recycling, reducing the quantity of waste and offsetting the plastic waste generated form the tournament activities through organizing the campaigns to scoop plastic waste out of world seas and oceans equivalent to the waste generated form the tournament organization. Nevertheless, SC is committed to supporting the practices that contribute to conserving the environment, in addition to its adoption of the plastic credit system to fund the operations of scooping the plastic waste out of the natural environment as means of plastic waste offsetting process generated through the activities and events of the upcoming edition of world cup. Plastic credit system is a potent method which intends to achieve the goals of the environmental campaigns for waste disposal, including other initiatives that dedicated to reducing the plastic waste, considering that plastic waste issue costs the global economy with $80 billion annually. Currently, the One Tide initiative supports a project to clean up one of the Islands in Indonesia which is poised to offer more job opportunities, in addition to preserving a healthy and safe environment, and contributes to drawing the attention to the major challenges such as the plastic waste and strengthening the methods of waste reduction, since the initiative can contribute to preserving the environment through the synergized efforts, along with the adoption of specified strategies. The One Tide campaign is an umbrella that combines the key initiatives of sustainability in the State of Qatar. The main goal of the campaign is to combine between all concerned parties and lay out further ideas, feedback and information in pursuit of giving impetus to the sustainability efforts to move forward. The efforts of One Tide continue to raise the environmental awareness and interact with the individuals and institutions in Qatar during 2022, in synchronization with the current preparations to host the first edition of the tournament in the Arab region and the Middle East. The initiative publishes regular updates in its accounts on social media platforms that candidly address its projects devoted to reducing the utilization of plastic materials and highlighting the drawbacks of plastic waste on the marine wildlife and oceans worldwide. (QNA)