How Much Waste Will Be Recycled at the 2022 Qatar World Cup?

Way back in 2010, Qatar was awarded the honour of hosting the FIFA 2022 World Cup. The practicalities and controversies came thick and fast, with many questions raised about the extreme heat that the Middle Eastern nation experiences, the stories of atrocious treatment and working conditions and the waste created during the preparations for this tournament.

With the event nearly upon us, the World Cup is due to be played in the middle of winter – a first for the tournament – to avoid the intense heat of a Qatar summer. So this month at SCS Waste, we thought we’d take a look at how Qatar has been dealing with waste and recycling, as well as what they plan to do during and after the tournament.

 

 

Carbon-neutral world cup?

The Qatar 2022 website claims that the aim is to deliver a carbon-neutral World Cup, with greenhouse gas emissions to be offset. This includes finding renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, along with stadiums that use recycled materials and have water-efficient systems.

Whether the 2022 World Cup achieves this bold claim remains to be seen as it hasn’t taken place yet. So far, there has been a lot of literature about the overall goal and the partnership with the global carbon council of Qatar, but there have already been reports that this claim is not credible due to how the carbon footprint is spread across the entire span of a stadium’s life, as opposed to just the tournament itself.

 

How much waste was recycled in constructing Qatar 2022 stadiums?

FIFA has actually published how much waste has been recycled during the construction of Qatar’s stadiums, with an average of 79% of the waste involved diverted away from landfill.

The Education City Stadium had the worst recycling rate at 72%, while Stadium 974 had the best rate at 95%. Interestingly, the latter of those two is actually a stadium made from shipping containers…

 

Shipping container football stadium?

That’s right, you read that correctly. Stadium 974 is made using – you guessed it – 974 shipping containers. These are recycled shipping containers, with the stadium due to be dismantled after the tournament so that the containers can be reused once more.

Not every aspect of the stadium is constructed via the containers, but it’s believed that even the seating will be dismantled for recycling after all games have been played. That makes it the very first temporary stadium for a FIFA World Cup.

 

 

How much waste will be recycled during the Qatar World Cup?

With any World Cup, it’s not just the construction of the stadiums that impacts waste management; it’s also the waste created throughout the tournament. The Ministry of Municipality is aiming to recycle 60% of the waste generated during the tournament, while the other 40% is earmarked for use in waste-to-energy processes. 

These, again, are bold claims, with a lot of organisation and management required to meet such goals. However, Hamad Al Bahr, the director of the Waste Management and Recycling Department in the ministry, has already acknowledged the scale of the challenge and pointed to learnings from the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup.

 

This year’s World Cup is set to be a strange one, not least because of the time of year at which it is being played and the controversial awarding to Qatar. With the environment and our impact on it becoming more important than ever, it’s vital that Qatar upholds its commitment to recycling and effective waste management. 

At SCS Waste, whether we’re dealing with a small skip of waste or an ongoing commercial waste management contract, we aim to recycle as much of your waste as possible. As licensed waste carriers, you can rely on us to dispose of your waste legally, with a focus on protecting the environment in Arundel, Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and the planet in general.

Call us today for skip hire and waste management services from a company you can trust.