Waste management has been identified as the most pressing environmental issue in Qatar. A waste management system is an organization’s approach to disposing of, reducing, reusing, and preventing trash (Hahladakis and Aljabri, 2019). It involves strategies such as recycling, composting, incineration, landfills, bioremediation, waste to energy, and waste minimisation. Unfortunately, Qatar’s rising population and ineffective waste management techniques have an upward trend in waste generation. Every year, the country produces more than 2.5 million tons of waste (Das et al., 2019). Based on this, food wastage is among the main contributors to the generation of waste products in the country (Nair, 2021). This indicates that restaurants are one of Qatar’s primary producers of waste.
Management of solid waste products is among the issues affecting restaurants in Qatar. Hemidat et al. (2022) investigated solid waste management in MENA countries like Qatar. They determined that solid waste management in these nations is attributed to a lack of planning, inadequate disposal, inadequate collection services, inadequate technologies, and insufficient funding. Even though MENA countries have adopted the idea of integrated solid waste management, it has not helped reduce the amount of trash that is dumped or thrown away in landfills. In addition, the main problems with waste management in the MENA region are that there are no enough laws (Zafar, 2019). Thus, one of the major issues is the absence of instruments to assess and monitor the operation of a waste treatment system.
Restaurants contribute to the increasing food waste in Qatar through their daily operations. According to Kim Wyatt, who is a known presenter of Qatar Media Corporation TV and who has been active in different programmes and food waste problems in Qatar for five years, the issue of food waste has presented itself at different levels in Qatar society (AlSharif, 2021). Most of Qatar’s food waste from restaurants and other eating outlets goes to landfills that quickly fill up and do not have much space left (Oledinma and Aktas, 2017). This has a negative impact for the environment because when organic waste breaks down in landfills, it creates more methane, staying in the atmosphere longer than carbon dioxide (Leong et al., 2021). If this problem is not taken care of well, it could get even worse (Leong et al., 2021).
Scope of the Study
The research will focus on effective strategies to enhance waste management among restaurants operating in Qatar. Firstly, it will review existing literature on waste management in Qatar restaurants. This will help develop the research problem to be answered in the main research. For example, it will be important to understand restaurants’ current waste management practices. Secondly, the research will ensure the information obtained from participants through the interview. Finally, questions related to efficient waste management techniques will be developed for the survey. Therefore, this is a comprehensive study of restaurants in Qatar because it will provide context on what is supposed to be done to ensure effective management of waste.
Aim of the Study
The primary aim of the study is to determine the effective strategies that can be used to improve waste management in restaurants operating in Qatar.
Research Objectives
- To identify the most effective strategies that restaurants in Qatar can use to manage their waste.
- To assist restaurants operating in Qatar in effectively managing waste.
- To determine the contemporary waste management techniques that restaurants can adopt.
- To determine the role of policies and legislation in the effective management of restaurant waste products.
- To identify how technology can be used in waste management.
- To offer suggestions on how to lower the amount of food waste generated by restaurants.
Research Questions
- What are the most effective strategies that restaurants in Qatar can use?
- What is the impact of policies on the management of waste in restaurants?
- How can technology be used in the effective management of waste?
Research Methodology
Qualitative research will be used in the collection and analysis of data. The main type of qualitative research is exploratory research. It is used to determine why individuals think, feel, and act as they do (Ravindran, 2019). This research provides additional information about the issue or facilitates the generation of concepts for further quantitative research. Qualitative research is also used to identify trends in how individuals think and feel and to gain a deeper understanding of the issue. Some techniques for gathering qualitative data can be either unstructured or semi-structured. It includes strategies such as focus groups, individual interviews, and observations. Therefore, qualitative research will play an integral role in this study.
Research Approach
Primary data will be collected from restaurant owners or managers. This type of data collection will occur through interviews to gather information (Sileyew, 2019). About 20 participants will be chosen from restaurants in Qatar and interviewed. The primary data collected using this method must meet the validity, accessibility, and sampling requirements for a particular research topic. In addition, access to data collection tools and field guides is expanding globally. This indicates that the primary data has become the most important source for empirical research in development economics. As a result, primary data is one of the data that will be collected to support the findings of this research.
Apart from primary data, secondary data will be used in this study. Secondary data are material that has been previously acquired from primary sources and made easily accessible to experts for their studies (Sileyew, 2019). The data has been accumulated in the past will be used in this study. Secondary data sources include books, personal sources, journals, newspapers, websites, and government documents. One researcher may have collected the data for a certain study, making it accessible to another. In this case, the existing literature about the current strategies used by restaurants in Qatar to manage waste. The information obtained from these sources will inform the basis for this study. Therefore, secondary data will be integral in this research because it helps understand its scope.
Random sampling will be used to select participants to take part in the interview process. This is a sampling technique where each sample has an equal opportunity of being selected (Sileyew, 2019). In addition, it is one of the most straightforward methods of gathering information from a large number of people. In the case of random sampling, each member of the subset has an equal chance of being selected as a participant in the sampling process. For example, the owners of the restaurants or managers will have an equal chance to participate in the interview. When random sampling is used, a researcher will be able to collect representative samples, which allows them to better understand a wider population by analysing only the people included in a sample.
Once the data has been collected, a thematic analysis will be used for evaluation. It is a method that involves searching through a data set to identify, evaluate, and report on reoccurring patterns (Sileyew, 2019). Although it is a method for communicating facts, it also contains interpretation in selecting codes and generating themes. The purpose of thematic analysis is to identify reoccurring issues, concepts, and meaning patterns by examining the data collected (Kiger and Varpio, 2020). There are numerous approaches to thematic analysis, but the most common involves six steps: familiarisation, coding, generating themes, discussing themes, identifying themes, and writing up the research outcome.
Ethical Considerations
Obtaining Informed Consent
One of the pillars of research ethics is the concept of informed consent. In a nutshell, informed consent requires participants to understand why they are participating in research and what the research requires of them (Brittain et al., 2020). This information may include the research’s objective, procedures, potential outcomes, and the demands, discomforts, and dangers that participants may experience. Although it is difficult to foresee what information a respondent will or will not want to understand, no information must be left out. This includes information that can impact whether consent will or will not be provided.
The concept that respondents should be willing to participate and not be pressured or misled into engaging in a study is another aspect of informed consent. If one is unable to obtain participants’ informed permission, they must offer an account for why this is the situation (Brittain et al., 2020).
Reducing the Risk of Harm
The other ethical aspect being considered during this research is lowering the participant’s risk of harm. There are various types of harm that participants can experience during this research (Brittain et al., 2020). Firstly, a subject may experience psychological stress and discomfort. To reduce this, the participants will be informed about the purpose of the study. In addition, a pre-interview will be conducted to understand the selected participants and understand some of the issues they might experience. For example, personal questions that may trigger emotions will be avoided. Secondly, participants may experience social disadvantages. To counter this, the interviews will be conducted in an environment where a participant is comfortable. Therefore, this study will make sure that all participants are not harmed.
Protecting Confidentiality
Protection of study participants’ identities and anonymity is another practical component. People are more ready to share information if there is a confidentiality agreement in place, especially when it involves private or sensitive information (Brittain et al., 2020). When insensitive data gathering procedures are used, it is possible that respondents will be hurt. However, the danger of injury occurring after data collection is larger. This occurs when data is not stored, analysed, or published in a manner that maintains confidentiality. Aliases will be used to safeguard the identities of those taking part in the competition. In turn, this will help to secure the participants’ identities, which will be especially important in cases when they do not wish to be identified as part of the research.
The Participants Have a Right to Withdraw
All participants will be given the option to withdraw from the study at any point along the process. If a volunteer decides to withdraw from the study, they will not be pressured or misled in any way to change their mind about their decision. The participants’ decision to withdraw will be respected because they have the right to choose whether or not to participate in the event. As a result, I will ensure that participation is voluntary and that no one is pressured into taking part.
Security of Data
The information gathered will be kept in a software such as MS Word and will be encrypted to prevent any sort of unauthorised access from occurring. Access to the file is restricted to the interviewer and other authorised users (Brittain et al., 2020). An interviewer who took part in data collection is accountable for ensuring that the information is stored correctly and efficiently. In the unlikely event that a device is stolen or lost in the field, data is less likely to be exposed as a result of this. In addition, the reference data is encrypted in the questionnaire, ensuring that no one outside of the interview will be able to access them during the interview. Thus, the reference data on the interviewer’s device is encrypted and cannot be extracted in a format that can be read.
The following is a breakdown of how the research will be conducted. The four steps will consist of a research proposal, literature review and methodology, data gathering and analysis, and documenting of the findings.
The Research Plan
The research plan will consist of several steps. First of all, it is necessary to gather a team and delegate roles to the people who will conduct the research. As the research will rely on primary sources such as interviews, ethical guidelines should be developed and communicated to the team members. After that, the questionnaire should be developed to ensure the efficient flow of the interview. The negotiations between the participants can be done parallel to the development of the questionnaire. After the interviews are done, the transcripts should be made and encrypted for data protection. Finally, the research will enter the phase of data analysis, where the trends and recommendations for waste management in restaurants should be identified.
References
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