From dumping to sanitary landfills -- solid waste management in Israel

摘要

To address the problem of solid waste in Israel, the Ministry of the Environment has formulated a policy based on integrated waste management. The policy calls for reduction of waste at source, reuse, recycling (including composting), waste-to-energy technologies, and landfilling. Due to the implementation of this policy, all the large dumps were closed, state-of-the art landfills were built, and recovery rates have increased from 3 percent in the beginning of the 1990s to almost 20 percent in 2003. More than 95 percent of the municipal solid waste is disposed and treated in an environmentally sound manner - in comparison to a mere 10 percent just a decade ago. The policy was implemented utilizing both enforcement and financial support ("stick and carrot" approach).