Turning the tide against plastic pollution in Qatar

*One Tide Week campaign from tomorrow on cutting plastic wasteQatar’s FIFA World Cup organisers will be encouraging people and businesses to ditch single-use plastics during a week-long campaign, starting on May 29.The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), in collaboration with Seven Clean Seas, is organising the One Tide Week campaign to encourage action against plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. The campaign aims to remove single-use plastics and promote the use of reusable items, including cups, containers and cutlery.The workshops follow the March launch of the One Tide programme, which informs people in Qatar, the region and globally about the importance of plastic waste reduction.“Every minute, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into the ocean and if this continues, by 2050, we will have more plastic in our oceans than fish,” said Bodour al-Meer, the SC’s Sustainability director. “This plastic pollution endangers aquatic life, threatens human health and results in a myriad of hidden costs for the economy. Such a global threat requires a global response by all of us, organisations as well as individuals. We need to come together to fix this problem.”Al-Meer said the One Tide Week campaign is an important milestone for Qatar, as the country edges closer to hosting the first FIFA World Cup in the region.“This is yet another opportunity to leverage the power of hosting the World Cup,” said al-Meer. “Together with Seven Clean Seas, we are spreading awareness about an important environmental issue and helping to ensure our tournament leaves a lasting legacy for Qatar, the region and the world.”The campaign will include a series of workshops at Al Bidda Tower for Qatari organisations and industries, as well as a roundtable discussion on future policy recommendations to tackle plastic pollution. There will be a particular focus on the hospitality industry – with One Tide conducting a series of plastic reduction workshops to help businesses develop strategies to tackle the problem.One can visit the One Tide website (https://www.onetide.org/) to view the campaign programme and sign up for events. Those interested can also register their own sustainability event at https://oek0vl3hash.typeform.com/to/YbJrJXX3?typeform-source=www.qatar2022.qaFor the latest details, One Tide can be followed on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn.