Reducing Single-Use Plastic Waste in Education City
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REDUCING SINGLE-USE PLASTIC WASTE IN EDUCATION CITY A CASE STUDY JUNE 2020 04 Executive summary Introduction: single-use plastics 08 are a global environmental crisis International examples: countries 10 banning single-use plastics Qatar’s efforts to reduce 14 plastic waste 16 Case study: Education City QF as a testbed and research 30 partner for national policy Appendix 1: List of policies 32 implemented at Education City Appendix 2: QF's environmentally 36 friendly incentives for vendors 02 03 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The world’s plastic pollution problem is terribly acute and single-use plastic products account for close to 50% of all plastic waste. This report highlights some of the international best practices deployed by various countries to combat this problem, as well as the approach adopted by Qatar Foundation (QF) in reducing single-use plastic consumption and waste in Education City. HIGHLIGHTS OF SUCCESSFUL POLICIES IMPLEMENTED IN EDUCATION CITY As a motivated participant and supporter of the government’s efforts to protect the environment, QF has launched several efforts aimed at reducing plastic consumption in Education City, which include the below: REGULATIONS MARKET-BASED ACTIVATION AWARENES RAISING AND BEHAVIOR NUDGING AND FINANCIAL INCENTIVES INFORMATION SHARING Mandated restriction of activities Financial incentives and disincentives to Variety of programs and interventions Nudging behaviors toward using regulatory instruments, guide behaviour toward environmentally designed to inform the public and environmentally responsible permits, or SOPs responsible activity raise awareness self-motivated actions Policies and measures banning the use Policies implemented in QF construction “Activists in Action” emerged as a Qatar The “Replace Plastic Bags” campaign, of single-use plastic bags and water bottles sites resulted in up to 20% of plastic Academy student-led effort with an online introduced by the QF Health Safety and for offices and at all QF cafeterias and packaging materials avoided per project petition requesting Qatar’s leadership to ban Environment team as a precursor to events, resulting in measurable avoidance and 210 kg of plastic waste recycled through the use of single-use plastic bags obtaining the ban of plastic bags within Education of plastic waste. An average of 120,000 an external plastic waste recycler from the over 7,000 signatures to date. City, is estimated to have saved 2,760 plastics bags previously consumed by Education City Stadium and Qatar Academy plastic bags over the 3 days during which QF per month has been avoided. Further, schools projects. the campaign was run, equivalent to a estimates indicate that on average reduction of 91kg in CO2 emissions. 112,000 plastic bottles per month were saved by this policy. 04 05 QF AS A TESTBED FOR NATIONAL POLICY Education City is a unique yet versatile community that makes for an invaluable testbed for policies which can be expanded at a national level. Some of these, which have been implemented and shown to be successful in reducing plastic waste in Education City, can be considered at a national context. These include: POLICY ACTIONS TO CONSIDER A BAN ON SINGLE-USE BEHAVIOUR AWARENESS PLASTICS NUDGING PROGRAMS across Education City, which includes providing consumers with paper at educational institutions, community plastic bags, water bottles and bags and other packaging options centres, and workplaces to educate food packaging at all QF based markets the community on the harms of plastic pollution on the environment PROCUREMENT REPLACING PLASTIC POLICY CHANGES WATER BOTTLES and contractual stipulations banning the at all QF offices with water purchase or distribution of single-use plastic coolers in all buildings bottles, bags and/or plastic packaging 06 07 Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, research, and community not-for-profit many countries made significant strides organization, Qatar Foundation is eager to INTRODUCTION: toward curbing the negative impacts of contribute to national efforts in achieving the single-use plastics on our environment, Qatar National Vision 2030 and push forward exploring different approaches to do so. the sustainability agenda to advance the These range from improved waste wellbeing and quality of life of its community. SINGLE-USE management practices, financial incentives aimed at changing habits of consumers, This report highlights some of the retailers, and manufacturers, awareness international best practices, tools and raising, as well as policies and guidelines policies deployed by various countries to PLASTICS mandated for a more sustainable and circular combat the plastic problem, and the production of plastics. Governments have approach adopted by Qatar Foundation in also financed national R&D capabilities reducing single-use plastic consumption aimed at the development of more within its flagship project, Education City. ARE A GLOBAL sustainable alternative materials and Initiatives that have been successfully better designed products, for example. implemented by QF are showcased, along with planned and upcoming initiatives, both The role of the not-for-profit and of which may serve as examples of what ENVIRONMENTAL private sectors is also crucial to protect could be adopted at a wider scale across the environment and mobilize various different entities and institutions in Qatar, segments of society, such as academia, civic and where applicable, may be considered as organizations, R&D entities, and individual potential policy options at a national level. CRISIS households. Qatar’s foremost educational, Referred to as a miraculous invention, However, the world is unable to cope with THE WORLD’S PLASTIC POLLUTION PROBLEM MAY plastic has upended the way we live the amount of plastic waste generated with NOT BE READILY VISIBLE BUT IS TERRIBLY ACUTE: and work. the surge in production and consumption over the past century. Roughly half of the Since its mass production in the annual production of plastic is destined for 1950s, consumption of plastics grew at an a single-use product. Single-use plastics million Nearly million metric astounding rate, surpassing all man-made are convenient for packaging but are usually tons materials. It is cheap, easy to make, and discarded within few minutes of first use, i.e. lightweight, yet durable enough to provide grocery bags, plastic cutlery, food packaging, solutions in the food and beverage, car, water cups, and bottles. 335 1 TOTAL GLOBAL PLASTICS PLASTIC BOTTLES electronics, healthcare, and many more industries. More recently, single-use As such, plastics have become one PRODUCTION IN 2016 PURCHASED PER MINUTE plastics have become a defining feature of of the greater pollutants of our oceans the fight against COVID-19, as the crisis and environment. Most plastics do not spurred a steep rise in the demand and biodegrade, and instead take thousands of production of desperately needed safety years to decompose into smaller fragments Up to trillion More than million tons plastic products, with governments racing called micro-plastics. In the meantime, they to build their stockpiles of protective wear are clogging landfills and floating around and citizens promptly acting to secure their the world’s oceans harming marine wildlife. share of supplies. Once decomposed, the microplastics seep 5 8 into the soil and are then consumed by PLASTIC BAGS OF PLASTIC DISCARDED IN livestock, entering the human food CONSUMED EACH YEAR OUR OCEANS EVERY YEAR supply chain. 08 09 Country Type of policy/tools Summary of actions taken to reduce plastic consumption INTERNATIONAL Rwanda - Formalized vision: - Implemented a strict plastic ban in 2008. to be completely plastic free by 2020 - Travelers entering Rwanda are not allowed to leave plastic bags behind. Violators face stiff fines such as jail time. - Strict plastic ban EXAMPLES: introduced back - Rwanda aims to be completely plastics free by the end of 2020, in 2008 with few exceptions such as plastics needed for packaging vaccines and other medicines, certain items sold at hotels, and plastics used - Fines and jail for wrapping frozen foods. time for violators COUNTRIES - The government urges to use paper, bamboo, or wood-base packaging as alternatives. Morocco - Strict ban on - After a partial ban started in 2009, Morocco banned the production production, import, and use of single-use plastics in 2016. Morocco has also banned the BANNING sale, and distribution production, import, sale,and distribution of plastic bags across of plastic bags the country. - The ban was - At the time the full ban was introduced, Morocco was considered the introduced in a second-largest plastic bag consumer after the United States, using SINGLE-USE staggered approach about 3 billion plastic bags a year according to the Industry Ministry starting with a of Morocco. partial ban, then full ban, and addition - The government has taken measures to ensure enforcements. 743,600 PLASTICS of penalty fees over inspections were carried out between 2016 and 2018, and 7,500 tons several years of plastic bags have been destroyed in the process. - Consumption of raw materials used in the manufacture of bags dropped by 50% to 35,000 tons. - Nonetheless, going plastic-free has been hard and plastic surveys from NGOs recommend that the government introduces even harsher fees. USA Different tools and Although no policies have been implemented at a federal level, several policies adopted by cities in the US have been implementing policies aimed at curtailing different cities, which plastic waste. include: San Francisco, CA - Bans on plastic bag - The first city in the USA to introduce a ban on plastic bags in 2007. distribution at stores - An analysis into the policy showed a reduction of over 70% in plastic - Tax on plastic bags bag pollution. - Behavioural Washington, DC incentives - The U.S. capital was one of the first cities to act to end plastic pollution Plastic pollution has become widely recognized as a worldwide crisis. Several countries, (distribution of by imposing a tax on plastic bags in 2009. Proceeds from the tax go to such as Australia and Peru, have taken steps to severely restrict single-use plastics.