We are Facing Challenges, and We Have to Cooperate Within Strategic Plans to Address the Increase in Waste

UOB and the
British Embassy in the “Waste Management Forum”:

We are Facing
Challenges, and We Have to Cooperate Within Strategic Plans to Address the
Increase in Waste

Bahrain Produces
1.8 Million Tons of Waste Annually, Being the Highest in the Gulf

Important
Initiatives by the “University”

The President of the University of Bahrain (UOB), Dr. Riyad Yousif
Hamzah, stressed the importance of focusing on global solutions that are being
adopted to address the danger of waste on the environment, and ways to reduce
the quantities of waste produced annually in order to reduce its negative and
destructive effects. Pointing out that the waste problem is a global challenge
that researchers and experts worldwide work to find the optimal way to manage
it.

In cooperation with the British Embassy, UOB ??organized the
“Waste Management” Forum, which was held on Sunday (16 February 2020)
at the E-Learning Center at the UOB in Sakhir, in the presence of the British
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain Rudi Drummond, the CEO of the Supreme
Council for the Environment Dr. Mohamed Mubarak Bin Daina, and a number of
researchers, those interested and University faculty members, with the participation
of a number of speakers from prestigious and distinguished British universities
in the field of waste management, in addition to speakers from UOB and a number
of private universities in the Kingdom.

The British ambassador reviewed the United Kingdom’s
experience in facing the risks of increasing the amount of waste and possible
solutions to reduce its quantities, stressing the importance of joint
cooperation between the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Bahrain towards
finding solutions for waste management.

For his part, the Executive President of the Supreme Council
for the Environment Dr. Mohamed Mubarak Bin Daina explained how problematic
waste is in Bahrain, the local challenges in facing the escalating increase in
the amount of waste, and methods of treating or disposing of it according to
its type.

Moreover, the Head of the Physics Department at UOB, Dr.
Hanan Mubarak Albuflasa stated that “The Kingdom of Bahrain produces 1.8
million tons of waste annually, which is the highest in the Gulf,” indicating
that there are four companies accredited by the Supreme Council for the
Environment to sort waste, and treat and recycle it as much as possible.

Furthermore, Dr. Albuflasa referred to the initiative of UOB
to become a zero-waste university, meaning the total elimination of waste,
pointing to the University provision of a number of special containers for waste
sorting, including those for papers, plastics and metals, with the hope of
spreading a greater number of these containers all around the University and
especially in gathering spaces, aiming to spread the culture of sorting and
reducing the volume of waste production. Also, she stated that “UOB has a
huge number of students, so if we succeed in educating such student population,
we have succeeded in sending a clear message to the community on the importance
of preserving the environment and eliminating waste.”

Furthermore, she added that “There are initiatives and
personal efforts made by individuals in the community to sort waste, which shows
that a culture of waste sorting is present in Bahraini society.”

And during the forum sessions, speakers discussed the most
important methods used in managing waste of all kinds, and the possibility of
applying them in the Kingdom of Bahrain.