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Planning for urban solid waste management within the framework of sustainable development
raises several intra- and intergenerational issues such as public health and the livelihood of the
public. Sustainability of waste management is key to providing an effective service that satisfies the
needs of the end users. One pillar of sustainable solid waste management is strategic planning. It
links another pillar that of cost analysis of solid waste options, which also links to useful analytical
tools.
The Sustainable Solid Waste Management Master Plan was necessary despite the existence of
a National Outline Plan for Solid Waste Treatment (NOP 16), because the background
documents of the outline plan only forecast processes until the year 2000, and did not
envision the scarcity of space for landfilling. In fact, until the creation of the master plan,
Israels solid waste management system barely took into account the scarcity of land reserves
and of the dire consequences of land consumption. The unrealistic low cost of landfilling
prevented the introduction of advanced, innovative and more expensive methods of solid
waste treatment. The Solid Waste Master Plan, which sought to overcome this basic market
failure, analyzed existing conditions and presented recommendations for integrated solid
waste management until the year 2020.
Four public meetings were held during the preparation of the solid waste master plan, 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 Samuel Neaman Institute for
Advanced Studies in Science and Technology initiated a project that was designed to create
an efficient and accessible mechanism for public participation.
Strategic Goals
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 reflected in damages to quality of life, safety and human and environmental
health. Economic costs are reflected in the direct costs of land consumption and in the
financial 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 landfilling purposes will not hinder opportunities for physical, landscape, and
environmental development, while preventing 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 implemented in a way that will prevent environmental damages of all kinds.
3. Repair of past damages: Assurance that reversible historical environmental damages will
be reduced in all areas within five years.
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.