State of Israel

Solid Waste Management in Israel

Compendium of articles from

ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN

2006 2007 2008

March 2008

Cover photo: Rehabilitated waste site in Kfar Saba. Photo: Eitan Aram

Integrated Solid Waste Management Construction & Demolition Waste From Dumping to Landfilling From Disposal to Recovery

2 8 12 14

www.environment.gov.il

Green plastic bottles await recycling at Aviv Ltd. Photo: Yoav Goell

PLANNING FOR INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ISRAEL

What to do with some 6 million tons of municipal and industrial waste which is generated in Israel each year? A recently approved Solid Waste Management Master Plan, coupled with legislative reforms and initiatives, presents some answers.

Each person in Israel generated 1.53 kilograms of waste per day in 2005 - totaling 560 kilograms per person per year. In all, some 6 million tons of waste, including industrial waste, were generated in Israel in 2005. In a country as small as Israel, the problem of how to manage all of this waste is reaching critical proportions. Recognition of the fact that the capacity of authorized landlls will soon be exhausted led the Ministry of Environmental Protection to formulate a policy based on integrated waste management at the dawn of the 21st century. In 2006, the main elements of this policy, based on a combination of methods to reduce and recover as much of the waste as possible, received the ofcial stamp of approval of the National Planning and Building Board, Israels highest planning authority, in the form of a Solid Waste Management Master Plan. From Concept to Document To date, Israels solid waste management system has taken little or no consideration of the scarcity of land reserves and of the dire consequences of land consumption. The unrealistic low cost of landlling has prevented the introduction of advanced, innovative and more expensive methods of solid waste treatment.

To a large extent, the Solid Waste Management Master Plan seeks to overcome this basic market failure. It sets out to present a clear and comprehensive framework for solid waste management, including rules, criteria, approaches and long-term goals for achieving integrated solid waste management, based on reduction, recovery and landlling, with landlling representing the last option. Moreover, it relates to all stages of solid waste management, to all generators of waste and to a wide range of treatment methods. Strategic Policy Goals In a nutshell, the target of Israels solid waste policy is to minimize the costs both environmental and economic - of solid waste treatment. Environmental costs, which are not always easy to quantify, are reected in damages to quality of life, safety and human and environmental health. Economic costs are reected in the direct costs of land consumption and in the nancial and natural resources required for solid waste treatment. Following are the strategic goals of the solid waste management master plan: 1. Sustainable management of land resources in Israel: Assurance that land consumption for landlling purposes will not hinder opportunities for physical, landscape, and environmental development, but will prevent economic and social damages (social injustice) in all areas of the country. 2. Protection of the physical environment: Assurance that the solid waste management system will be

ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2007

implemented in a way that will prevent environmental damages of all kinds. 3. Repair of historic damages: Assurance that reversible historic environmental damages will be reduced in all areas within ve years. 4. Partnership and contribution to global environmental trends: Assurance that the policy will transform Israel into an active and valued partner in international efforts to protect global environmental resources. Public Participation in Planning for Integrated Solid Waste Management The Ministry of Environmental Protection considers public participation in planning and decision making processes to be a high priority in order to prevent conicts and promote plans. During the preparation of the solid waste master plan, four public hearings were held with the participation of the Israeli Public Solid Waste Forum a 200-member group including stakeholders from all sectors. Furthermore, due to the sensitivity of planning for thermal treatment facilities and other recycling and recovery facilities in the vicinity of population centers, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the S. Neaman Institute

for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology have initiated a project designed to create an efcient and accessible mechanism for public participation. Priorities for Action The Ministry of Environmental Protection has been working hard to implement the integrated solid waste policy, with rst priority going to the landll levy (approved in January 2007) as a means of internalizing the external costs of land consumption, air pollution, water pollution and more. Without doubt, the recent approval of the landll levy constitutes an historic milestone in waste management in Israel. Yet, at the same time, the ministry is also concentrating its efforts on promoting recycling and reduction at source for different waste streams, reviewing different technologies for thermal treatment and promoting public participation in planning and decision making on material recovery facilities. Several of the ministrys initiatives have become a reality in recent months whether the landll levy or a recycling law for waste tires, thus signicantly advancing the ministrys efforts. Education, nancial assistance and regulatory measures all are being used today to make integrated solid waste management a reality.

Policy Steps and Recommendations The master plan outlines the policy steps which are necessary to achieve the goals of solid waste treatment in Israel. Each step is made up of two components: actions that will serve as "agents of change" to achieve the long-term goals of the master plan, and tools to facilitate the process by such means as legislation and enforcement, economic incentives and persuasion and assimilation. Following are some examples of recommended policy steps: Reduction at source: Encouraging reduction at source, mainly among industrialists and commercial enterprises. Reviewing potential models of levies on manufacturers for material use. Promoting reduction at source among the general public. Recovery: Imposing a landll levy which will internalize the external costs of landlling. Advancing planning for a thermal treatment system. Promoting paper, cardboard and plastic recycling. Advancing composting.
Electronic waste awaiting recycling at Zohar S.B.A. Photo: Yoav Goell

Landlling: Advancing dedicated landlls for dry waste (with low degradable organic matter). Continuing the development of landlls for municipal solid waste. Rehabilitating abandoned dumps.

DID YOU KNOW?

WASTE GENERATION FACTS AND FIGURES: 2005
Generation of Waste A total of 6 million tons of waste, including industrial waste, were generated in Israel in 2005. Each person in Israel generated 1.53 kilograms of waste per day, totaling some 560 kilograms per year. Savion residents generated the highest rates of waste per day 4.47 kg per person, followed by Eilat 3.45 kg of waste per person per day, probably due to the waste generated by the numerous hotels and large numbers of tourists in the city. Waste quantities generated in Jerusalem, Beersheba and Bnei Brak have remained nearly identical over the past ve years about 1.26 kg per capita, 1.7 kg per capita and 1.36 kg per capita, respectively. Waste quantities in Tel Aviv have declined over the past six years: 3.27 kg in 2000, 2.94 kg in 2001, 2.85 kg in 2002, 2.75 kg in 2003, 2.73 kg in 2004 and 2.62 kg in 2005. This trend indicates a decrease in consumption levels.

Composition of Solid Waste: 2005 Plastic waste constitutes 46% of the waste volume in the Israeli garbage bin (up from 34% in 1995), followed by paper (15%) and cardboard (13%). In terms of weight, organic matter constitutes 40% of Israels solid waste, followed by paper (17%) and plastic (13%). Plastic bags make up 30% of the volume and 7% of the weight of the waste. Recycling of Waste 1.4 tons of waste were recycled by 8 recovery facilities, 23% of the total quantity of mixed waste. Recycling rates in Israel have risen from 3% at the beginning of the 1990s to about 23% in 2005. Some 130 local authorities take part in recycling and recovery processes in Israel. Some 1,156 billion beverage containers were collected for recycling between October 2001, when the Deposit Law on Beverage Containers went into effect, and the end of 2005. Some 330 million beverage containers were collected in 2005. Some 50 million beverage containers larger than 1.5 liters were collected from 6000 cage-like receptacles dispersed throughout the country. Sixteen collection points for electronic waste are dispersed in ten local authorities throughout the country. 85 tons of used batteries were collected in 2005. In the rst eight months of 2006, 80 tons of used batteries were collected for landlling in the hazardous waste treatment site at Ramat Hovav. Composition of Solid Waste - Summer-Winter 2005 Average Volume

Composition of Solid Waste - Summer-Winter 2005 Average Weight

ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2007

Glass bottles at Phoenicia await recycling/photo: Yoav Goell

Collection of Beverage Containers for Recycling

Estimates of Recycling in Israel (2005) Type of Raw Material Total Recycled Waste/Year (tons) 29,037 10,500 236,972 30,000 356,602 7,063 465,210 255,138 28,100 1000 1,419,622 Percent of Recycling out of Total 0.48 0.18 3.95 0.5 5.94 0.12 7.75 4 0.47 0.02 23

Non-Ferrous Metals Electronics Yard Waste & Wood Glass Organic Material Miscellaneous Ferrous Metals Paper and Cardboard Plastic Tires Total

Used Battey Collection

Recycilng Rates

MOVING TOWARD INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Israel has a statutory National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Treatment. Why was it necessary to prepare a master plan on solid waste management as well? The National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Treatment (NOP 16) was approved by the government in 1989 and Ilan Nissim was amended on different Director, Solid Waste Division occasions during the 1990s. However, the background documents of this outline plan forecast processes until the year 2000 and did not envision the scarcity of space for landlling. Our recognition that landll volume in Israel is fast running out prompted us to approach the National Planning and Building Board with a request to facilitate the establishment of Material Recovery Facilities and to simplify the statutory planning process which is long and bureaucratic. In turn, the National Board called for the preparation of a master plan which would analyze existing conditions and present recommendations for integrated solid waste management until the year 2020. On a concrete level, what will be the outputs of the new master plan? The outputs will include legislative steps and operational and planning processes. Legislative steps include the imposition of a landll levy, which was nally approved in January 2007, and specic legislation for different waste streams, such as the Tire Recycling Law, also recently enacted. Operational processes relate to composting and other forms of waste recovery. Planning processes relate to a directive by the National Board to amend NOP 16 in accordance with the recommendations of the master plan, including zoning requirements for thermal treatment facilities and guidelines on public participation. The idea is to shorten the planning track for some projects by transferring the planning of recycling and recovery facilities from the national to the regional level of planning. The National Board is the highest statutory planning body in Israel, with representatives from government bodies, local authorities and public and professional organizations. Therefore, the adoption of the master plan by this body should have far-reaching inuence on the entire system. I believe that the policy outlined in the master plan will be translated into recovery and recycling facilities in the eld over the coming years. What is the ministry doing to facilitate the move to integrated waste management? Fortunately, we have seen several of our initiatives come to fruition recently. Firstly, and most signicantly, an amendment to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law makes the landll levy obligatory. The economic studies which rst identied the landll levy as the right tool for reducing the quantities of waste reaching landlls and increasing waste recycling and recovery were carried out as far back as 1996. I believe that the landll levy is the most signicant achievement in the eld of solid waste treatment over the past ten years. Without doubt this achievement will advance Israel towards a new era of recycling and recovery. At the same time, two additional developments will help pave the way toward recycling: enactment of the Tire Recycling Law and approval by the cabinet and the Israel Knesset in a rst reading of the expansion of the Deposit Law on Beverage Containers which will allow some 600 million more bottles, 1.5 liters and up, to come under the umbrella of the law. In parallel, we will continue to grant nancial aid to material recovery facilities, to recycling centers and educational programs and to other recycling initiatives. In our opinion the combination of recycling with thermal treatment and anaerobic digestion should bring us close to our 50% recovery target.
Teenim landll photo: Ilan Nissim

ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2007

MOVING FROM LANDFILLS TO RECOVERY FACILITIES

The National Outline Plan for Solid Waste has proved itself. It has seen the closure of hundreds of dumps and their replacement by state-of-the-art landlls. However, it is time to move on. We must now provide Tal Shohat the right conditions Director of Landlls and Transfer to entrepreneurs, Stations, Solid Waste Division we must prepare the necessary infrastructure, and we must provide the right framework of rules to facilitate recovery processes. Therefore, we are now in the midst of amending the provisions of the outline plan in accordance with the master plan. The goal is to facilitate the establishment of solid waste complexes, offering different treatment options, and based on environmental criteria. To reach this goal, planning processes must be simplied. Sorting, recycling and composting facilities will be planned at the regional level, while landll planning will continue at the national level where a comprehensive view of Israels land resources is necessary. Within a few years, all of today's approved and active landlls will reach capacity. Therefore, urgent steps are necessary to promote alternative and advanced treatment methods. In this regard, the landll levy which was recently approved by the Knesset is of top importance. Today the price of landlling in Israel is unrealistic and thereby impedes the promotion of advanced treatment methods, including reduction at source, reuse, recycling and waste to energy. A comparative study which we undertook showed that while the average price of landlling in Israel is about 40 shekels per ton (less than $10), prices worldwide run between tens of dollars to as much as hundreds of dollars per ton. As long as the landlling price does not reect its true costs, advanced waste recovery facilities will not be able to penetrate the waste treatment market. The landll levy plays a vital role in providing a solution to the current price distortion in Israel's waste market and will go a long way toward encouraging the development of waste recovery facilities as alternatives to landlls.

Decorating garbage dumpsters in Acre photo: Ilan Swissa

Plastic bottle receptacle photo: Shaul Almog

Tire as home to anemone and mosquitoes photo: Shai Ilan

Targeting Construction and Demolition Waste: a Top Priority

January 2006 in Hiriya. The plants are expected to reach a recycling capacity of 100,000 tons per year and 150,000 tons per year, respectively. Other plants are already operational in other parts of the country in Ashkelon, Ramat Zvi in the Beit Shean Valley and Dudaim in the south, complemented by mobile on-site facilities throughout the country. Working on Solutions Finding a comprehensive solution to the problem of construction waste is not easy, largely because of the large number of stakeholders involved in every part of the chain, including waste generators, waste transporters, waste contractors and local authorities. Whats more, basic infrastructures for collection, transport and transfer are inadequate and vital parts of the system are unregulated. Yet, despite the difculties, stakeholders believe that the time is ripe for market forces to play their part in ridding the country of unsightly heaps of construction waste and promoting environment-friendly solutions. Building contractors are beginning to discover the economic potential inherent in using recycled aggregates from construction waste as ll in construction or as a road base, and efforts have been initiated to formulate appropriate standards. Local authorities, too, should be interested in solving the problem. Not only does such waste detract from the aesthetic appearance of cities and their environs, but it takes up valuable land, with an economic value for real estate purposes. It is in the interest of local authorities to make derelict land available for building and to clean up these spaces. Upgrading the Role of Local Authorities Local authorities should play a key role in coordinating the safe disposal and treatment of construction waste but they dont. While municipalities are legally bound to collect municipal solid waste, they are not obligated to dispose and treat construction and demolition waste. To overcome this barrier, the following amendments to planning and building regulations have been promulgated:

Transforming construction waste from nuisance to resource is at the top of the ministrys "to do" list Growing piles of construction waste along roadsides and open spaces are a grim reality in Israel. Their association with landscape blight and environmental problems is indisputable. Yet, to date, despite a three year old government decision to regulate the treatment of construction waste, little has been done to solve the problem. Out of some 7.5 tons of construction waste that are generated in Israel each year, only 1.5 million reach authorized landlls. Yet the problem cannot be solved by landlling alone. Israel does not have sufcient land resources to absorb the ever growing amounts of dry waste that are generated annually. Steps are urgently needed to turn construction waste from nuisance to resource. Over the past year alone, two plants for the crushing and treatment of construction waste were inaugurated in Israels central region, one operational since August 2005 in Bareket and the second operational since Composition of Waste Generated on Residential Construction Sites A research study commissioned by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and conducted by Dr. Hadassah Baum and Dr. Amnon Katz of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in 2004 has found: Construction waste generated on residential construction sites includes such materials as concrete, iron, wood, bricks, tiles, plastic and paper. Non-inert materials, such as plastic, aluminum and gypsum, constitute some 36% of the waste. Nearly two thirds of the waste may be recycled, consisting of 12% paper, 8% iron and 44% inert materials. Residential building generates an estimated 20 tons of waste for each 100 square meters of built space.

ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2006

Photos left to right: Ilan Malester, Ayelet Arad, Galia Pasternak

What is the Ministry of Environmental Protection Doing to Effect a Change? Promoting the establishment of standards for recycled construction waste through the Standards Institution of Israel; Advancing legislative changes: an amendment to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law imposing responsibility on local authorities for the transport and disposal of construction waste and a model municipal bylaw on the disposal of dry waste; Initiating a pilot project, with the participation of all stakeholders, based on the Environmental Problem Solving Approach; Stepping up enforcement: catching offenders "in the act," launching investigations, ling criminal charges and, at times, seizing offending vehicles to be used as evidence during trials. Providing nancial support to local authorities for planning and establishing infrastructures for dry waste: in 2005, 11 million shekels in nancial aid were allocated to about 45 local authorities. Identifying abandoned quarries which may be used for the disposal of construction waste, in cooperation with the Quarry Rehabilitation Fund and the Israel Lands Administration. Once lled and rehabilitated, the quarries may be transformed into parks for the benet of the population. Issuing warnings and Cleanup Orders for the clean up of open spaces to the owners of land or to the polluters themselves. If not implemented, a contractor is hired and the owner or polluter is charged double the expenses.

Local planning and building committees must require building permit holders to transfer their waste to an authorized site for disposal. Contractors applying for a building permit must prove to local planning committees that they have contacted an authorized construction waste landll for the purpose of disposing of all of the waste expected to be generated by the project. Occupancy permits for buildings must not be issued until proof is provided that all of the waste stipulated in the building permit was transferred to an authorized site. Yet, despite the regulations, local planning committees have largely continued to issue building permits without addressing the problem of construction and demolition waste. And when it comes to small home renovations, building permits are not required at all. The Model Bylaw for the Disposal of Dry Waste To help address the problem, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has drafted a model bylaw on the disposal of construction and demolition waste which is currently being "marketed" to local authorities. The bylaw relates to the obligations and powers of local authorities in establishing both the necessary infrastructures and the necessary systems for supervision and control including permits and fees. In parallel, the possibility of having municipalities publish tenders for authorized transporters of construction waste that will serve the city is being examined. Today, this is one of the weakest links in the chain leading from generation to disposal since the transport sector is inadequately regulated. The goal is to select, by tender, a number of ofcial municipal transporters, thereby also giving residents who renovate their homes the option of choosing an ofcial transporter, at a lower price and with the assurance that the waste collected will indeed reach an authorized site.

Solving the Problem of Construction and Demolition Waste

Ilan Nissim
Director, Solid Waste Division of the problem and are ready to cooperate. Thirdly, our regional ofces, in cooperation with the Enforcement Coordination Division, have issued hundreds of cleanup warnings in recent years, which have both raised awareness and made a difference in the eld. When this was not enough, warnings were followed up by cleanup orders. In cases where cleanup orders were ignored, we ourselves undertook the cleanups and charged the municipalities double the sum, as per the provisions of the law. Its important to mention that the Green Police has played a critical role in discovering offenders in the very act of dumping construction waste in prohibited areas, collecting evidence, seizing dump trucks when necessary as part of the evidence gathering process, and issuing cleanup warnings and orders.

What has changed for the better since the government decision of 2003 to regulate the treatment of construction and demolition waste? The issue of construction and demolition waste is the realm of responsibility of numerous stakeholders, including the key players in the eld of building and development in Israel the Ministry of the Interior, local planning authorities, the Ministries of Construction and Housing, Transport and Defense, and the Israel Lands Administration. Three years ago, these bodies were not sufciently aware of the magnitude and consequences of the problem. Today, both government ministries and agencies and local authorities are beginning to recognize the high price that they are paying environmentally and economically. The waste which nds its way to open spaces and roadsides affects more than our environment and our health it impacts on land values, hurts tourism and harms our economy. What has changed to make you more optimistic about the possibilities of improvement today? As far as the Solid Waste Division is concerned, this is our greatest challenge. We succeeded in regulating the area of municipal waste. Now we must turn all of our efforts to the problem of construction waste. We are seeing progress. Firstly, within the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the subject has been upgraded in priority. In fact Minister Gideon Ezra has identied this as the highest priority. Secondly, local authorities are much more aware of the seriousness

What else is being done to bring about a solution to the problem? We are sitting with local authorities to help them implement a comprehensive solution from the level of local planning authorities which must ensure that building and occupancy permits are not issued until solutions to construction waste are implemented to the level of transporters of construction waste which must be more strictly regulated. Local authorities are not familiar with the legal tools which are available to them to tackle the problem. We are helping by providing them with guidelines on such tools as licensing and permit systems and fees for different aspects of the treatment of dry waste. Once rules and regulations are set in bylaws, and are accompanied by fees and nes, progress would be possible. At the same time, we are continuing to promote the establishment of infrastructures for crushing construction and demolition waste. The huge amounts of construction waste which were generated in the North following the recent war are catalyzing the process.

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ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2006

Applying the Environmental Problem Solving Approach to Construction Waste To further expedite a solution, a pilot project, based on the Environmental Problem Solving Approach, has been initiated by three departments in the Ministry of Environmental Protection (Solid Waste, Business Licensing and Enforcement Coordination) along with regional solid waste coordinators. The main aims of the project, which will be conducted in three cities Modiin, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with additional cities such as Haifa, Rehovot, Ramat Gan and Bat Yam showing an interest as well, are to regulate the work of renovators and building contractors and to assure that they comply with business licensing conditions. Top Priority to Construction Waste Soon after entering the ofce, Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra declared his intention to place the subject of construction and demolition waste at the top of his agenda: "I intend to spearhead a comprehensive program that will integrate greater allocations of funds for enforcement, on the one hand, and cooperation with local authorities and other government ministries in preparing an immediate work plan, on the other hand." Clearly, a comprehensive approach is vital in order to deal with the complex problems associated with the generation, disposal, transport, recycling and reuse of construction waste. As obstacles are overcome, chances are good that a market for recycled construction waste can be developed for the good of both the environment and the economy.

Truck Seizure as a Tool for Stopping Illegal Dumping: Case Study in the Haifa District
Shai Ilan and Abed Mahamid

Illegal dumping of dry waste is one of the major problems of solid waste management in Israel, largely because generators of dry waste are often tempted to seek "free" ways to dump their waste. The Green Police of the Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for the bulk of inspection and investigation activities. When an environmental nuisance is discovered and the identity of the owner of the waste or of the land is known, an enforcement procedure is initiated from calls and letters, to public hearings, to cleanup orders (under the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law 1984). Yet the procedure is cumbersome and may take up to six years: from nding evidence on the origin of the waste, to identifying the offender, to opening a criminal case, etc. Another possibility is to trace the owner of the land and order him to clean it up, a procedure that, if contested, can lead to a lengthy trial. Over the past ve years, criminal charges were led against about 15 out of the 30 large waste transporters working in the Haifa district, which encompasses 970 km2 and a population of one million. Enforcement was targeted at every pile of waste larger than 40 m3 and criminal investigations were initiated against mayors for illegal waste dumping. Yet, the problem has not disappeared. On September 2004, a new step was initiated truck seizure. This is based on a provision in the Penal Law, which permits the seizure of the tool used to commit an offense until trial and, in case of conviction, may allow this tool to become state property. The truck is seized for 30-40 days and the owner pays storage fees, or, if determined to release the truck, bail. Truck seizure is only possible if a member of the Israel Police (blueuniformed police ofce) is present. As cooperation is good between the green and blue police in the Haifa district, shared supervisions were held for the purpose of discovering waste offenders. In the past year alone, eleven trucks were seized and transferred to state custody pending trial. The impact of this experiment is signicant, resulting in: Less administrative enforcement in the rst seven months of 2006, we opened 8 cases of illegal dumping in comparison to the parallel period in 2004 when 22 cases were opened a drop of 60%. 30% more dry waste reaching landlls. Less waste in open elds. The deterrent effect of this procedure is evident in the attitude of waste transporters. While previously they knew that a criminal investigation and trial could take years and result in a ne, today they know that if they illegally dispose their waste, they risk losing their trucks and an identical or larger ne in just 30 days. While this is not the nal solution, the new technique has been shown to save time and increase deterrence.

Photo: Eitan Aram

1 1

Photos: Yoav Goell and Ilan Malester Aerial view of the Hiriya landll Photo: Ilan Malester

FROM DUMPING TO SANITARY LANDFILLING

In the late 1980s, some 96% of Israel's municipal waste found its way to about 500 unregulated garbage dumps. Most were poorly managed and many had reached or were soon to reach capacity. The dumps were associated with a motley of environmental problems: risk of groundwater and soil contamination, odor, air pollution (including generation of greenhouse gases), aesthetic blight, threats to ight safety, and consumption of expensive tracts of land. Recognition of the severity of the problems led, in 1993, to a government decision, mandating closure of the countrys unregulated dumps, their replacement by state-of-the-art regional and central landlls, nancial aid to local authorities for transporting their wastes to regulated landlls for a dened time period, and promotion of recycling and energy recovery. The landmark decision, which was followed up a year later with an amendment to the National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Disposal, expedited the establishment of central landlls, shut down hundreds of illegal waste dumps and created an infrastructure for environmentally-safe solid waste disposal both in the short and long terms. Implementation: First Stage The implementation of the rst phase of the plan - establishment of state-of-the-art central landlls

A real revolution in municipal solid waste disposal occurred in Israel between 1994 and 2003. Today 80% of the country's waste is disposed or treated in an environmentally sound manner and closure of the dumps - was concluded in 2003. Today, Israel's regional and central sites, along with other landlls included in the national outline plan, are operated according to professional guidelines prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. They include the latest technologies for every stage of landlling from siting to post-closure, including sealing, leachate detection, collection, treatment and disposal, methane gas collection and use, proper covering of the waste during operation, closure procedures (landll capping), and monitoring of possible contamination of groundwater during and after closure (up to 30 years aftercare). The Economics of Landlling In the beginning of the 1990s, the cost of landlling in Israel was very low, with the tipping fee ranging between 0-15 NIS ($0-4.00). In light of these low costs, "stick and carrot" measures needed to be used to ensure the closure of the dumps. Local municipalities were granted nancial aid for transporting waste to regulated sites following the closure of dumps, on the one hand, and were forced to close the dumps by demand or legal suit, on the other hand. In cases where illegal dumps were not closed, action was also taken against the mayors or other high level ofcials in the municipalities. Between 1994 and 2003, nancial support was awarded

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ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN 2008

to 107 local authorities servicing about half of the population in the sum of $82 million. The support was granted for a set period of 5 years with a decrease of 20% each year. The Results Today, all regulated landlls in the country have installed systems for the prevention of leachate leakage and for leachate collection and treatment. Most of the landlls have also installed, or will soon install, systems for the collection and treatment of landll gases. Furthermore, several landlls have begun to operate facilities for landll gas extraction and energy recovery. In addition to energy savings, this step has important implications for climate change mitigation. Since the contribution of methane emissions from the decomposition of solid waste to carbon dioxide emissions has been most signicant, measures such as landll gas extraction and energy recovery, composting of waste, anaerobic digestion and waste to energy are important measures for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from solid waste. In February 2008, mayors of 15 major Israeli cities (known as the Forum of 15) signed a declaration pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by the year 2020, as part of the Cities for Climate Protection campaign, initiated by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The campaign, which addresses solid waste and recycling as one of four main areas of action, marks an important turning point in the environmental awareness of local authorities in Israel.

Financial Support to Local Authorities for Closure of Dumps (1994-2003) Year Municipalities (number) 1 63 72 88 102 107 107 107 107 Population1 (million) 0.150 1.240 1.380 2.430 2.835 2.895 2.950 3.010 3.150 10.00 7.20 11.40 15.80 15.80 10.75 10.00 1.10 82.05 Financial support Closure of (Million $) large dumps (number) 1 35 14 18 3 3 1 0 2 77

1994 1995-6 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total
1

(Central Bureau of Statistics, 2002)

Major Milestones on the Road to Integrated Solid Waste Management 1989: Approval of the National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Treatment. 1993: Government decision on closure of unregulated dumps, establishment of regional and central landlls, nancial aid for transporting waste to regulated landlls and advancement of recycling and energy recovery. 1993: Enactment of the Collection and Disposal of Waste for Recycling Law. 1994: Amendment of the National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Treatment according to the 1993 government decision. 1998: Closure of Hiriya, Israel's 84-meter-high landll near Ben-Gurion International Airport. 1998: Promulgation of Collection and Disposal of Waste for Recycling Regulations. 1999: Enactment of the Deposit Law on Beverage Containers. 2003: Closure of Israels last unregulated landll at Retamim 2003: Government decision on construction and demolition waste treatment. 2006: Approval of the Solid Waste Management Master Plan by the National Planning and Building Board. 2007: Amendment to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law on a landll levy. 2007: Enactment of the Tire Disposal and Recycling Law.

Closure of Unregulated Dumps

90 80 70 60 no. of sites 50 40 30
27 41 77

76

74

20 10 0
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

9 6 3 2 2001 2 2002 0 2003

Photos: Ilan Nissim, Eitan Aram and Avri Lachman

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Rehabilitated dump in Haifa. Photo: Ilan Malester

FROM DISPOSAL TO RECOVERY

Israel has embarked on a new road which should hasten the transformation of waste into resource
A veritable revolution in environmentally sound landlling occurred in Israel in the ten year period between 1994 and 2003. Today, the Ministry of Environmental Protection is hard at work promoting a new revolution: waste recovery. It is using every possible means - nancial support, legislation and education - to promote alternatives to landlling, including recycling, composting, energy recovery and treatment of construction and demolition waste. Economic Tools As in the case of environmentally sound landlling, nancial aspects are playing a pivotal role on the road to waste recovery. Although landlling costs have more than tripled since Israel's landlls have been upgraded, the cost of landlling still in no way reects the externalities associated with this disposal practice, especially in a country characterized by scant land resources. In fact, within a few years, all of Israel's approved and active landlls will reach capacity. Realistic pricing mechanisms are therefore an imperative in order to promote alternative solutions to the countrys solid waste problem. As a rst step, a decision was made to change the price structure of landlling by means of a landll levy. The

rationale: to internalize the external costs of landlling and to encourage alternative treatment methods. On January 16, 2007, the Israel Knesset approved an amendment to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law which requires landll operators to pay a levy for every ton of waste which is landlled at the site. The landll rate is determined by the type of waste and type of landll and will be gradually implemented over a ve year period (beginning with 10 shekels in the rst year, 20 shekels in the second year and reaching 50 shekels in the fth year for a ton of municipal solid waste, for example). The funds collected will be deposited in a dedicated account of the Maintenance of Cleanliness Fund and will be returned to local authorities or the private sector for the purpose of setting up recycling and recovery infrastructure. Criteria for nancial support will be published in 2008. Since the levy rst went into effect in July 2007 and until the end of the year, 20 million shekels in landll levies were collected, with levies expected to reach 80 million in 2008. If the present recycling rate of 25% does not increase, the landll levy is forecast to reach 200 million shekels a year within 5 to 10 years. However, the goal of the Environmental Protection Ministry is to reduce rather than increase the funds accruing from the landll levy. Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra has stated that "the goal of the ministry is to increase recycling and reduce landlling to a minimum. We would like to collect half of the forecasted landll levy in 2018 and to reach 100 million shekels rather than 200 million shekels. The lower the number, the more successful we will be in reaching our target - preventing the landlling of waste and spearheading its recycling.'' Ilan Nissim, Director of the Solid Waste Division in the Ministry of Environmental Protection, recalls that the economic studies which rst identied the landll levy as the right tool for reducing the quantities of waste reaching landlls and increasing waste recycling and recovery were carried out as far back as 1996. According to Nissim, the landll levy is the most signicant achievement in the eld of solid waste treatment over the past ten years: Without doubt this achievement will advance Israel towards a new era of recycling and recovery, says Nissim.

Left to right: Burning tires in the north, Reuse of tires in public park, Tire collection from Gulf of Eilat.Photos: Ministry of Environmental Protection

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MORE ON THE TIRE RECYCLING LAW

Elad Amichai Recycling Director, Solid Waste Division Some 3 million tires in Israel are transformed into waste tires each year. They are often illegally discarded and pollute open spaces and water sources. Water accumulation in waste tires transforms them into breeding grounds for mosquitoes, including the Asiatic tiger mosquito, which constitutes a public health hazard. Over the years, thousands of waste tires have been transferred to illegal lots, increasing the risk of res and air pollution. And even within landlls, used tires are responsible for operational difculties since they are relatively incompressible and combustible waste and gas may accumulate in them. Israel's recycling law is an innovative law which is based on the principle of "producer responsibility" for treating environmental problems. The rationale is that the producer or importer, who are at the top of the pyramid in the life cycle of a product, should be responsible for the

environmental impact of the product, even when it is no longer in use. Tire recycling is denitely preferable to landlling, both in terms of the recovery of natural rubber as a raw material and in terms of saving landll space. I anticipate that the law will help catalyze the development of a recycling industry in Israel, which receives waste tires from produces and importers and transforms them into raw materials and new products. Since the law came into effect in July 2007, several companies have been established which treat and dispose of used tires on behalf of tire importers and producers. Checks conducted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection demonstrate that tire repair businesses have largely instituted the required tire disposal systems. While much remains to be done in terms of cleaning up the country from the accumulation of tires in the past, my hope is that the waste tires which once polluted our country will soon be transformed into raw material for new products, bringing about both resource conservation and environmental improvement.
Left to right: Recycling bins. Photo: Ilan Nissim, Plastic bottle collection.Photo: Ilan Malester, Recycled rubber from tires in playground.Photo: Ilan Nissim

Tire Recycling Law: A Step in the Right Direction On January 23, 2007, Israels Knesset enacted a Tire Disposal and Recycling Law, which aims to prevent the environmental nuisances associated with improper disposal of used tires and to save raw materials and promote tire recycling. According to the law, tire producers and importers will be responsible for the disposal and recycling of used tires at the following graduated rates each year: Disposal or recycling of no less than 50% of the tires until June 30, 2009. Disposal or recycling of no less than 70% of the tires until June 30, 2011. Recycling and recovery of at least 50% and disposal of no more than 35% of the tires until June 30, 2012. Recycling of at least 85% of the tires, from July 1, 2012. After July 2013, producers and importers will be obligated to recycle all of the collected tires and will be prohibited from disposing tires, in any form, in any waste disposal site. In addition to the responsibility imposed on importers and

producers of tires, the law imposes storage requirements on tire sale and repair businesses. Such establishments are required to store tires in a way which will prevent the accumulation of water and the creation of environmental nuisances. These businesses are also required to transfer tires on a regular basis to importers and producers in order to avoid the creation of large stockpiles of tires. From Nuisance to Resource Israels integrated solid waste management policy has been implemented using both "stick and carrot" enforcement, on the one hand, and nancial support and education, on the other hand. Hopefully this will prove to be a winning combination when it comes to waste recovery and recycling. The Ministry's short-term goal for 2008 is to achieve a 25% recycling and recovery rate and to increase the recycling rate of the country's construction and demolition waste to 5%. The long-term goal is to reach a 50% recovery rate within the next ten years.

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Reuse of tires in public park. Photo: Ministry of Environmental Protection, Northern District.

Websites for Everyone

Looking for information about the environment in Israel?
For more information: Solid Waste Management Division Ministry of Environmental Protection P .O.B. 34033 Jerusalem 95464, Israel Telephone: 972-2-6553801/2 Fax: 972-2-6553817 Inquiries: pniot@sviva.gov.il The Ministry of Environmental Protection has developed four main websites, with something for everyone - children and adults, Hebrew, English and Arabic speakers, in Israel and worldwide. Come visit us at: Hebrew Website:www.sviva.gov.il English Website: www.environment.gov.il/english Arabic Website: www.sviva.gov.il/arabic Children's Website:www.sababa.sviva.gov.il

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