Qatar's commitment to staging a sustainable FIFA World Cup™ included extensive efforts to minimise waste and recycle used materials throughout the tournament. After successfully hosting 64 matches, tournament organisers ensured that more than 2,074 tonnes of waste were recycled or composted.

APEX Waste Solutions provided services for classifying, sorting and recycling of all recyclable waste and collection and composting of food waste from all 8 stadiums and some non-official sites during the tournament.

Nasser Al Khalaf, CEO, APEX Waste Solutions and Management Company, said: "As a Qatari company, we are proud to have been a part of ensuring that FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 left behind a sustainable legacy for future generations. Through our work with the SC, we were able to ensure that waste generated at stadiums was segregated on site before being taken to any recycling facility, which significantly increased the recycling rate of our project."

The primary focus of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM Sustainability Strategy was to reduce waste and increase recycling, especially plastic and food leftovers. To achieve that, tournament organisers have successfully replaced plastic items with compostable and reusable alternatives. For unavoidable plastic units, Qatar 2022 worked diligently to remove them from the waste streams so that they could be recycled.

Organisers engaged with fans ahead of the tournament to encourage them to recycle as much as possible. Several public activations throughout Qatar 2022 engaged fans and encouraged the uptake of recycling bins at tournament sites. The success of this initiative during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ will undoubtedly create a long-lasting legacy where recycling plays an integral part in how waste is managed in Qatar.


75% of waste from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ stadiums was recycled.

The FIFA Arab Cup 2021 hosted matches in six stadiums. All stadiums had a centralised waste compound in the stadium precinct. Waste was transported from the stadium to the waste compound. External collection of waste was only conducted from these compounds.

One testing objective for the FAC2021 was to test the private and public sectors' capabilities to collect, treat and report on waste from a football event of this scale. To achieve this testing objective, Al Bayt Stadium was selected as a test site for a private contractor. SC carried out a competitive tendering process. We were appointed to handle all recyclable resources at Al Bayt Stadium, with the Ministry of Municipality (MoM) collecting non‐recyclable waste. MoM handled the remaining five stadiums. A key differentiator in operations was that the scope given to us included deploying a large team of sorters to manually segregate the waste that arrived to the Al Bayt waste compound. This post‐collection segregation did not occur in the remaining five stadiums.

During the planning and preparation stage it became clear that the MoM did not have suitable equipment and the necessary processes to collect segregated organic waste and segregated cardboard and paper for recycling. As a result, the SC carried out an additional competitive tender and appointed us again, for on‐site organic waste collection and treatment.

As a result, Al Bayt Stadium achieved the highest rate of recycling at 70%.

Eugene de Jongh deployed BiobiN® composter devices and provided helpers to collect pitch grass clippings/wood, sort food and compostable packaging waste, and organized the removal of compostables.

Andrey Abramenko, with the support of SC SUS and HC CLW teams, developed, implemented and managed operations plans related to the waste streaming pilot project, and acted as a backup help desk liaison between MoM and Transport in regard to last mile and transport areas. Andrey coordinated the accreditation process for BiobiN and other firms' management and their helpers.

BiobiN® is a mobile, on-site organic material management solution that starts the composting process and effectively manages odour from putrescible waste.
The system is scalable and compatible with all types of organic waste material. Compost produced from using the BiobiN® solution is suitable for use in landscaping and agriculture. BiobiN® is a wholly "Made in Qatar" solution.

Andrey Abramenko, who led the Local Organizing Committee for FIFA World Cup 2018 with the stadium and Host City authorities and a team of 16 staff members, developed and implemented the comprehensive Waste Management Concept for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The concept was built around the following key goals:

• to determine the priority areas of waste management according to government regulations, regional waste management facilities, expected types of waste, etc.;
• to minimise waste generation at source;
• to set up an efficient waste collection, handling, and disposal system, which included recycling for all venues;
• to ensure the support of attendees in reducing and segregating waste via an information programme.

Andrey Abramenko led the recycling project that was fully incorporated into the operations of the preliminary draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in St Petersburg.

More than 1,000 people attended the events across the various venues, at which over two tons of recyclable waste was collected in over 300 containers. In total, 655kg of polyethene packaging, 790kg of cardboard and paper, 350kg of glass, 107kg of plastic bottles, 77kg of organic waste and 6kg of batteries were sent for recycling.

In addition, more than three tonnes of decorations were reused for civic events, and 200 children attended a lecture encouraging the younger generation to take a responsible attitude towards nature and the environment.