In today’s world, sustainability has become an essential aspect of our lives, and businesses have an important role to play in promoting sustainable practices. At Doha Festival City, we recognize the importance of sustainability and are committed to promoting sustainable practices in all aspects of our operations. In this article, we will discuss some of the initiatives we have implemented to reduce our environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future. We hope that this post will inspire you to make sustainable choices and join us in creating a better tomorrow for ourselves and future generations.
Our sustainability measures:
IRRIGATION MECHANISM
Throughout all the seasons, and during summer in particular, Doha Festival City adjusts its irrigation system using a timer that allows to control the amount of water used in landscaping. The irrigation mechanisms in place are also sustainable and employ the already used waters from the Mall’s ventilation systems and cooling tower as well as harvested storm water to sprinkle the lawns and plants.
Measures aimed at controlling and limiting water consumption, including the implementation of high-efficiency faucets and sanitary fixtures with built-in sensors to reduce water wastage.
Growing plants that are suitable for the Gulf region and do not require high level of water consumption.
Upgraded its system to enable the utilization of TSE (treated sewage effluent) waters for chilled water circulation, fully relying on TSE water for its Chillers in the second half of 2021 while undertaking further action to boost the sustainability of its operations.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
Doha Festival City celebrates World Water Day and Earth Hour on annual basis with a number of environmental activities to promote a culture of conservation, under its Festival Cares CSR programme.
Doha Festival City has completed the first phase of its Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations in partnership with Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA), represented in the National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency “Tarsheed”. The initiative, undertaken under the mall’s sustainability efforts and Tarsheed’s guidance and regulations, has seen the completion of 23 stations, which are now all operational. The Mall has further plans to install more charging stations in two phases in the coming 2 years to further promote energy efficiency. The EV charging stations are now available for public use and can be found in 46 locations across the mall in the Lower Ground Floor, near Monoprix and Sacoor Brothers and on the first floor near the VIP valet area, Harvey Nichols, and VOX.
Doha Festival City is also at the forefront to install state-of-the-art systems and equipment that contribute to reducing its carbon footprint, including smart electric systems and solar panels to reduce its electricity usage.
As part of its #FestivalCares culture, Doha Festival City has a firm commitment toward sustainability and promoting environmental responsibility. Through its active network of local partners such as Tarsheed, the Mall supports environmental awareness programmes and initiatives on a variety of topics such as recycling, sustainability, and waste reduction.
FOOD WASTE SEGREGATION
With over 80 fast food outlets and casual dining restaurants in Doha Festival City, the mall has faced challenges in segregating food waste due to numerous reasons, and for this, the facilities team has taken steps to address these issues; including providing training to restaurant staff and encouraging them to participate in food waste segregation. This has shown positive results, decreasing the total food waste by 51%.
Since February 2022, the mall is continuously collecting and recycling food wastage via in-house food digester machines. It has invested in buying two machines that are strategically placed in both food courts so its housekeeping team can easily collect food waste in these two locations. Furthermore, Doha Festival City has extended this recycling campaign to its F&B outlets.
Doha Festival City participated in the International Food Loss and Waste Program in September 2022 by placing zero food waste countertop designs in all F&B stores.
RECYCLING WASTE
Reducing and Recycling Waste – Doha Festival City serves as an example of how businesses can make a positive impact on the planet while still providing a memorable customer experience. Compositing organic waste and recycling paper, cardboard, and other materials are part of the several waste reduction programs that contributed to the 3% rise in cardboard recycling.
The mall has cardboard recycling skips distributed in all its loading bays. A recycling company visits the mall on a daily basis to collect cardboard for delivery to the recycling factory. By reducing waste and promoting recycling, the mall is helping to create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable environment for everyone.
Say no to Plastic yes to Support Qatar Charity – Monoprix Reusable Bags Campaign
After becoming the first and only supermarket in Qatar to start using paper bags, Ali Bin Ali Holding’s Monoprix Qatar introduced a more sustainable way of shopping with reusable bags. Making the right start to the New Year, on January 1, 2023, Monoprix Qatar launched the permanent campaign, ‘Let’s be the change – reduce, reuse, recycle’. Leading the way in reducing the one-time use of shopping bags, Monoprix Qatar looks forward to saving trees and creating a greener environment.
Customers at any Monoprix store in Qatar can now purchase one re-usable bag for QR 1 and also get a voucher worth QR 1 in return, in effect getting the bag free of cost. This QR 1 voucher, which is valid for 1 month, can be redeemed at any of the Monoprix stores on the next visit.
The QR 1 cost of the reusable bag is just to make customers conscious about the number of bags they use and use them only when it’s necessary. Making the use of these bags even more sustainable, the supermarket will exchange any used or damaged Monoprix reusable bags for free, for life.