70% of the rubbish generated at all venues during the tournament was successfully recycled at Al Bayt Stadium.
This achievement was the result of a collaboration between FIFA, the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC). The successful sustainability project ran throughout the tournament and was supported by the Municipal Department, the Department for Environment and Climate Change and local contractors.
There were several key efforts to ensure the implementation of this project. Waste-generating materials have been avoided and replaced with recyclable products instead. Nine hundred reusable water bottles were distributed to staff and volunteers.
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Various facilities were available to implement proper waste separation. Recycling bins and a composting machine for organic waste such as food leftovers, biodegradable packaging and grass clippings were available. A baler was used to compact the plastic waste to make it more manageable.
Non-recyclable materials were sent to Qatar’s Domestic Solid Waste Management Center to be incinerated and converted into energy.
The DSWMC is the first facility of its kind in the region and one of the few in the world designed for an initial capacity of more than 1,550 tons of waste per day. It includes waste sorting and recycling facilities, landfills, a composting plant and a waste incinerator with a capacity of 1,000 tons per day.
“Every FIFA tournament is an opportunity for us to improve and aim higher. The FIFA World Cup in Qatar is no exception,” said Federico Addiechi, FIFA Head of Sustainability and Environment. “The FIFA Arab Cup gave us the opportunity to test our operations and ensure everything is in place to meet the waste management-related goals of the Qatar 2022 Sustainability Strategy.”
During the tournaments, the FIFA Arab Cup™ The organizers also ran awareness-raising projects at all six stadiums. This included regular on-screen announcements at the stadium, social media posts and appearances by a sustainability edutainment group. With music, the group motivated people to dispose of their rubbish in the right bins.
Each stadium recycled at least 42% of the waste generated, with the rest being sent to the Waste Management Center for conversion into energy.
