Education City to be Home to Qatar's First Community Centric Recycling Hub

Recycling Hub

Marking Global Recycling Day, Qatar Foundation (QF) has announced plans to build Green Island, Qatars first recycling hub within Education City, in partnership with Seashore Group.

Green Island will kick off with six recycling streams paper, plastic, aluminum cans, e-waste, batteries, and organic waste. Partially powered by solar panels, it will be easily accessible by public transport, including the EC Tram.

Ground has been broken at the project site and the recycling hub is expected to be open to the public by October, if not sooner. Spanning more than 8,000 square meters, Green Island will be made up of 95 end-of-life shipping containers, which have been donated by Milaha, one of the largest maritime and logistics companies in the Middle East.

Green Island will also feature research labs, a themed giftshop, an open space for exhibitions and lectures, organic cafes, and a farm-to-table restaurant with its vertical farm onsite. Additionally, it will house an art gallery where students can exhibit pieces of recyclable waste, as well as a 3D printing lab that prints using recycled concrete.

"It is no secret that there is a gaping hole when it comes to recycling in Qatar," said Sustainability Manager Nawal Al Sulaiti, Qatar Foundation (QF). "And the desperate need to fill that gap and do more to empower the community, particularly the younger generation, and arm them with the tools needed become environmentally conscious citizens, is what led to the birth of Green Island." she added.

According to Al Sulaiti, young people will be a major target. "It is easier to get youth to take up new habits when compared to adults, and these youth can then get their families to follow. Their power to bring about change is huge and is the driving force we need to cultivate a sustainability mindset in Qatar."

"Education and awareness will be a primary objective of this project; a lot of effort has been put in to making it an interactive and active learning experience. Each container will have a large screen mounted on it which will allow community members to see the various steps that a certain type of waste goes through as its recycled," said Strategic Initiatives Advisor at QF Ouassim M. Alami.

He expected that the Island will become an incubator for individuals and initiatives interested in the environment, where everyone will find their way, there are awareness sessions to introduce recycling, and lectures by specialists and researchers, which enhances Qatar's efforts in the environmental field. (QNA)