 |
Updated: 23/12/2009
Based on questionnaires distributed to the country's recycling plants, Israel's recycling rate has grown significantly over the past ten years - from 3% in the early 1990s to about 21% in 2008. On the other hand, recycling rates in Israel have remained lower than rates in Europe and the United States. This may be attributed to several factors:- Low cost of landfilling
- Low cost of raw materials
- Lack of appropriate infrastructure, including collection infrastructure in local authorities, preliminary sorting infrastructure and recycling plants
- Limited market for raw materials originating in the different components of waste
- Lack of preference for purchasing products made of recycled materials
In recent years major efforts have been made to increase Israel's recycling rate, largely through the introduction of a landfill levy and a Tire Recycling Law (in 2007) and by means of financial aid to local authorities for the implementation of recycling projects and the establishment of recycling infrastructure. In parallel, recycling programs in schools and recycling projects on the community level, in conjunction with awareness raising campaigns aimed at increasing bottle and can collection for recycling and promoting the use of multi-use bags, have raised public awareness of the importance of recycling. Recycling in Israel (2008) Type of Raw Material | Total Recycled Waste/Year (tons) | Percent of Recycling out of Total Waste | | | | Electronics | 23,794 | 0.34 | Yard Waste & Wood | 220,000 | 3.13 | Glass | 68,000 | 0.97 | Organic Material | 340,000 | 4.84 | Miscellaneous Materials | 13,670 | 0.19 | Ferrous Metals | 500,000 | 7.11 | Paper & Cardboard | 300,000 | 4.27 | Plastic | 19,270 | 0.27 | Tires | 1,000 | 0.01 | Total | 1,485,734 | 21.14 |
|
|
