Promoting sustainability and recycling is an essential goal within Ashghal’s Corporate Strategy 2018-2022. Efforts not only aim to achieve environmental protection and create a balance between economic growth and environment preservation but also to set the example both locally and regionally and share the knowledge and best practices between all parties.
Ashghal has established several management systems and programmes aimed at engaging all stakeholders from consulting companies, contractors, suppliers, workers and others while encouraging them to adopt positive environmental practices, create solutions and new methods, and apply them during different stages of project implementation.
Ashghal developed and implemented its Environment and Sustainability Monthly Report (ESMR) in 2019 in order to improve environmental performance. The ESMR is an innovative tool for accurately monitoring and reporting all construction materials as well carbon impacts and reductions.
Through ESMR, Ashghal measures its carbon footprint against the conventional approach and reported a total carbon emissions reduction of 127,158 tonnes (tCO2e) in 2021 in the Roads Projects Department’s projects. Ashghal has established three construction material recycling yards to the north, west and south of Doha to optimise resource efficiency. These facilities became operational in 2020 for processing and recycling construction waste materials (excavated material, reclaimed asphalt, concrete, and demolition waste) instead of disposing to landfill.
Ashghal’s recycling yards reduce the one-way distance for disposal to landfill by 60km on average and also the demand for imported construction materials and related embodied carbon footprint. Also, it has implemented a Recycling and Sustainability key performance indicator (KPI) across all its Roads Projects Department’s projects, mandating that completed construction works must include at least 20% recycled material. Ashghal overachieved this KPI with 40.71% and 12,784,148 tonnes of recycled material in 2021.
Excavated material is processed and treated to meet the quality requirements for use in backfill, subbase, road base and pipe bedding. Demolition and concrete waste are processed to separate its components, steel waste is further recycled and reclaimed gabbro from concrete is used to treat and improve the quality of processed excavated material. Reclaimed asphalt from road upgrades is like “Qatar’s topsoil” with high recycling value for processing into asphalt mixes for new roads, similar to how traditional topsoil is preserved for rehabilitation. Approved Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement mixes are implemented only in Base Courses, and Crumb Rubber Modified Binder asphalt mixes are implemented in the Wearing Course layer.
To better exploit water resources, dewatering water is used instead of potable water in the projects while contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions caused by the supply and transportation of water, as well as preventing the consumption of natural resources. As many as 4,800,800 tonnes of groundwater were recycled at the Roads Projects Department’s projects in 2021.
Ashghal won the “Best Government Initiative” Award at Qatar Green Building Council's (QGBC) annual Sustainability Awards and was shortlisted in the “Best Campaign in the Government Sector” category at IEMA’s Sustainability Impact Awards, for its “Green Award” initiative. And the Roads Projects Department’s Local Areas Infrastructure Programme won the “International Green Apple Environment Award” for 2021.