(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Sanaullah Ataullah
|
The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MECC) organised a symposium to announce the innovation of green cement made from sewage waste, following environmental and sustainability standards.
The project aims at promoting environmental sustainability and supporting the circular economy.
The event was attended by Minister of Environment and Climate Change H E Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Subaie, Minister of Education and Higher Education H E Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi and Minister of Municipality H E Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiyah.
Addressing the symposium, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change praised the efforts made by the scientific research team in treating sewage waste and converting it into environmentally friendly green cement in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and environmental sustainability.
He noted Qatar's interest in supporting and promoting scientific research and innovation, in light of the lofty directives of the wise leadership.
The Minister said that MECC is interested in applied scientific research that addresses the challenges of the environment, climate, wildlife and sustainability sectors, in addition to encouraging researchers to conduct purposeful scientific research.
Environmental Expert and Engineering Consultant at the Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Dr. Eng Mohammed Saif Al Kuwari, stressed Qatar's keenness to protect the environment and its natural balance, for sustainable development especially in priority areas, such as greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, biodiversity, water, circular economy, waste management and land sustainability.
He said that the MECC is making great efforts to enhance and protect the environment in Qatar by encouraging applied scientific research, which contributed to the success of the scientific research team in conducting research on the innovation of green cement from sewage waste, which is one of the challenges facing the environment due to the accumulation of these materials in nature.
Al Kuwari said the research encourages partnership between the private and public sectors to invest in green cement in some construction projects and the engineering materials industry.
The green cement is produced by treating sludge, resulting from solid sewage waste by burning, grinding and mixing it with catalysts and is practically applied in the manufacture of building blocks and foam concrete using recycled materials.
This innovation contributes to reducing the carbon footprint and protecting the quality of air, soil and groundwater from pollutants as well as limiting the negative environmental impacts of sludge.
The idea of this innovation was initiated by the Ministry's scientific research team in cooperation with researchers from Qatar and Queen's University Belfast. The project was submitted to 12th Qatar National Research Fund Competition for 2021, and was subjected to scientific and technical evaluation by international evaluators and experts in this field, where it obtained the highest evaluation grade (A) for three years.
According to the data, the amount of accumulated sewage waste is estimated at about 40,000 tonnes annually, which can be used to produce 40 million bricks or 150,000 cubic meters of foam concrete annually, which contributes to reducing production costs.
This innovation comes as a result of efforts by the MECC to enhance environmental sustainability and support the circular economy, which aims to reduce waste of materials, goods and energy and increase their sustainable use. This effort is in line with the fourth axis of Qatar's Environment and Climate Change Strategy, and is in line with the Third National Development Strategy (2024-2030), which focuses on rationalising the use of natural resources, protecting ecosystems, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancing capacity and resilience to confront future environmental threats, in support of QNV 2030.
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