Treating municipal and industrial waste
Treating
Construction
Demolition
Waste
Treating
municipal
and
industrial
waste
&
Preventing
water
pollution
and
restoring
rivers
Reducing air
pollution
from
transportation
and industrial
sources
he Ministry of the Environment is determined
to rid the country of unsightly heaps of
construction and demolition waste and to
transform this waste from nuisance to resource
Treating lifethreatening
hotspots
Accelerated construction, development and road
building in Israel leave significant quantities of
construction and demolition waste in their wake.
This waste all too frequently finds its way to open
spaces and roadsides throughout the country. In
addition to landscape blight, improper disposal
of construction waste is responsible for a host of
environmental and health nuisances including
groundwater contamination, air pollution in case
of fires, and lowered property values.
Catalyzing
economic
growth and
national
interests
Construction and demolition waste constitutes
the largest fraction in the total waste generated
by the country. Some 7.5 million tons of construction
waste are generated in Israel each year - some
140% more than the total quantity of household
waste which is produced in this country. Yet only
11 authorized sites for dry waste exist in Israel, and
only one million tons reach these designated sites
(about 14%). Such a small number of sites, most
of them situated far away from the source of the
waste, cannot possibly absorb the huge quantities
of waste which are generated each year.
Improving the
urban
environment
and
preserving
open spaces
Moving from Pessimism to Optimism
Until recently, the situation appeared hopeless.
Only a handful of recycling and landfill sites for
construction waste existed in Israel, there was no
municipal collection and transport system capable
of handling this waste, there were no uniform
standards in local authorities for the treatment of
dry waste, there was no mechanism for determining
6
ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN.
vol 27
Dry waste dumped in Hadera
Photo: Solid Waste Division
Government Resolution on
Construction and Demolition Waste:
Highlights
waste quantities for the purpose of granting
building permits, there was no budget to clean
up and rehabilitate open areas, and the Ministry
of the Environment did not have adequate
resources to undertake enforcement, on the one
hand, and to aid local authorities in solving the
problem, on the other hand.
Today, there is reason for optimism. The influx of
funds for the sole purpose of solving the problem,
catalyzed by a government decision, may prove
a landmark in Israel’s treatment of its construction
and demolition waste. The goal: to regulate the
disposal and treatment of this waste, prevent the
pollution of open spaces, and rehabilitate disturbed
areas - all within a three-year period.
Government Resolution on Construction
and Demolition Waste
To help address the problem, the Israel government
resolved, in a February 2003 decision, to undertake
a variety of measures, on both the local and
national fronts. Specifically, it called "on the Minister
of the Environment to regulate the treatment of
construction and demolition waste throughout
Israel within three years, and no later than the
end of 2005, in order to clean up areas polluted
by construction waste."
Some 7.5
million tons of
construction
waste are
generated in
Israel each
year
www.environment.gov.il
• Establishment and operation of transfer
stations for bulky waste in local authorities.
• Establishment of authorized landfill sites
for dry waste.
• Establishment of shredding and recycling
infrastructures for construction and
demolition waste.
• Development of reuse technologies for
construction waste and recycled waste.
• Cleanup and rehabilitation of polluted
open areas.
• Operation of a national enforcement
and inspection system.
• Advancement of municipal bylaws on
construction and demolition waste.
• Financial aid to local authorities for the
establishment of recycling infrastructures
and transfer stations and to private
entrepreneurs for recycling projects.
• Allocation of NIS 54 million for a threeyear period to finance these activities.
7
Treating municipal and industrial waste
From Plan to Action
Treating
municipal
and
industrial
waste
Illegal construction waste dump in Or Akiva, which
was subsequently cleaned up by order of the Ministry
of the Environment
Photo: Yossi Bar
To help solve the problem and to implement the
government decision, the Ministry of the
Environment has formulated a two-phase plan
for the disposal and treatment of construction
and demolition waste: stopping the illegal disposal
of this waste and assuring that it reaches authorized
sites, in the first phase, and advancing alternatives
to landfilling, including recycling and reuse, in
the second phase.
Preventing
water
pollution
and
restoring
rivers
To translate plan into action, numerous steps
have already been initiated. Tenders for the
establishment of disposal sites for construction
and demolition waste are being prepared,
cleanup and rehabilitation of some sites has
been initiated, cleanup of open spaces in which
construction and demolition waste has been
dumped has begun, several companies are
providing shredding and crushing services for
this waste, and numerous local authorities have
begun to incorporate conditions in their tenders
Reducing air
pollution
from
transportation
and industrial
sources
Treating lifethreatening
hotspots
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT - 1993-2003
•All of Israel’s major dump sites (77 out of 77) were closed.
•Seven medium to large landfills are being built or upgraded.
•Recycling has gone up from 3% to 20%.
•More than 75% of the waste is disposed in controlled sites.
•107 local authorities (50% of the population) have received a subsidy of over $80 million
for closing large dumps and transporting their wastes to state-of-the-art landfills.
Catalyzing
economic
growth and
national
interests
Reduction of Illegal Waste Sites - 1993-2003
Improving the
urban
environment
and
preserving
open spaces
90
80
77
76
74
70
60
50
41
40
number of sites
30
27
20
9
10
6
1992
8
3
2
2
1
2000
2001
2002
2003
0
1994
1995
ISRAEL ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN.
1996
1997
vol 27
1998
1999
GIL YANIV ON CONSTRUCTION AND
DEMOLITION WASTE
Deputy Director General for Infrastructure
which mandate crushing following large-scale
demolition projects.
And last but not least, the Ministry of the Environment
has called on local authorities to submit proposals
for the establishment of solid waste infrastructures,
including sites for the disposal or treatment of
construction and demolition waste. Based on
strict criteria, financial support (50% of the total
cost) will be provided to the highest scoring
projects.
Hopefully the combination of government decision,
action plan, funding, stakeholder cooperation
and market forces will help rid the country of
unsightly heaps of waste while providing
environment-friendly disposal and recycling
solutions to the complex problem of construction
and demolition waste in Israel.
Unlike municipal waste, which may be
transported over wide distances to peripheral
areas, long-range transport is not an option
for bulk wastes. The biggest problem lies
in the central region of the country where disposal sites for building
debris simply do not exist although a large portion of the country’s
construction waste is generated there. A survey, which we recently
conducted, showed that even if all abandoned quarries in the Tel Aviv
and central districts were made available for this waste, they would
be filled up within two years. We, along with the Israel Lands Administration,
are therefore examining the option of disposal in operating quarries in
the region.
In parallel, I am glad to say that a tender has been issued for the recycling
and crushing of construction and demolition waste at the Hiriya recycling
site. Future months should see the sorting of this waste at the site - with
recyclable components going for recycling and the rest being used
to help moderate the slope of the 80-meter high former landfill, which
was closed down in 1998, and is now destined for rehabilitation as part
of a larger project for the Ayalon metropolitan park.
We are encouraging recycling and crushing in order to prevent
environmental degradation and to transform dry waste from nuisance
to resource - whether as a substrate for roads or for reuse in the construction
sector with associated components going to recycling. We are working
with every possible stakeholder - the Israel Lands Administration, local
authorities, planning committees - to ensure strict control and enforcement
at every stage. On our part, we expect to reinforce our inspection and
enforcement capabilities with the addition of much needed manpower,
including dedicated inspectors of the Green Police who will launch
regional enforcement campaigns, undertake surveillance and conduct
investigations.
www.environment.gov.il
Over the past ten years we managed to
solve our municipal waste problem. The
time has now come to deal with an even
greater problem - construction and demolition
waste. This is a problem of huge proportions
involving quantities one and a half times
greater than municipal waste.
I would like to believe that this new initiative will match our success in
closing down all of the country’s major dumps and replacing them with
state-of-the-art landfills. 2004 should see a real breakthrough.
9