The Problem of Solid Wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Managing Solid Wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
1. Household wastes: the wastes of houses, hotels and restaurants.
2. Wastes of agricultural activities including both plant and organic wastes.
3. Wastes of mining and industries
4. Wastes of construction activities and various installations.
Other Types of Wastes:
1. Hazardous Wastes, such as the chemical compounds, water and mineral solutions, mercury compounds which result from the chemical industries, electronic industries, paper industry, insecticides and medical wastes as well as the plastic materials and biological pesticides. Until now there is no any administration responsible for handling the hazardous solid wastes; however, one can impose compliance with the required environmental conditions and obtain a special authorization from the Ministry of Environment to undertake collecting or transferring these matters.
2. Medical Wastes: these are the garbage of medical laboratories, hospitals, private clinics, and veterinary health centers. The refuse contains used syringes, tubes, and containers. These are dumped into the garbage containers which belong to the Municipality. Such wastes can transmit diseases to people; however, they can be controlled by putting them into sterilized bags and then dumping them in special garbage containers.
3. Biological Pesticides: these are used to protect humans, animals and plants from the harmful effects brought about by some insects, rodents, noxious herbs, fungi, and bacteria. The biological pesticides are very important as they largely contribute to the increase of agricultural production.
Gaza Strip alone uses 100 tons of these pesticides, consisting of 36 insecticides, 20 herbicides, and 19 fungicides, whilst the West Bank uses 30 types of pesticides in Tulkarem, 30 pesticides in Ramallah and Hebron, and 10 pesticides in Jerusalem.
The risks of using such pesticides are associated with:
1. The disturbance of the ecological balance.
2. The harm caused to the public health, especially to the users of pesticides.
3. The contamination of surface water and groundwater.
All these types of wastes can be disposed of without causing any environmental harm by handling or recycling them. These wastes can also be exploited depending on the availability of the appropriate environmental management and the technical experiences.
Some of the major problems that result from the solid wastes in the Palestinian Territories are:
1. The decrease of the surface area of lands owing to their use as dumps for solid waste disposal. As a result, these lands are considered closed areas because they emit toxic gases that are detrimental to health.
2. The inconvenience caused to people due to the unpleasant smells and the spread of insects that gather on these solid wastes as well as the emitted smoke from the burning of such wastes.
3. The contamination of surface water and groundwater due to the decomposition of the solid wastes.
4. Disfiguring landscapes.
The components of solid wastes in Palestine are the same as the ones in the neighboring countries. Most of the solid wastes in the cities consist of plastic and paper used for wrapping and packing purposes, in addition to the solid wastes of hospitals known as medical wastes. Also, the solid wastes which are noticeable in the cities include other substances such as aluminum, glass and construction wastes. Meanwhile, the solid wastes in the rural and agricultural areas are marked by being organic wastes of plants and animals.
- The Problem of Solid Wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
The estimated weight of solid wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1994 is 1000 tons a day. Thus the solid wastes in a year will equal 365,000 tons. It is expected that the weight of solid wastes in the year 2010 will reach 3900 tons a day and in a year the weight will be 1423.5 thousand tons.
The following chart shows the expected amount of solid wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the year 2010 in comparison with 1994:
| Area | Weight of Solid Wastes Ton/Day | Weight of Solid Waste1000 Ton/Year | Amount of Solid Wastes 1000 M3 | |||
|
| 1994 | 2010 | 1994 | 2010 | 1994 | 2010 |
| Gaza Strip | 400 | 1500 | 146 | 547.5 | 438 | 1643.5 |
| West Bank | 600 | 2400 | 219 | 876 | 657 | 2628 |
| Total | 1000 | 3900 | 365 | 1423.5 | -- | 4271.5 |
Managing Solid Wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
The solid wastes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are transferred outside the borders of municipalities to randomly chosen areas that contradict with the conditions of environment protection. These solid wastes are not totally burned up; as a result the bottom layers of these wastes become a place for insects, rodents, and unpleasant smells.
The regulations in the big cities regarding the solid wastes dumps include the following:
1. Collecting garbage placed outside homes, by sanitation workers of the municipalities and UNRWA, and transferring it to small garbage bins or even the citizens can do such work by putting the garbage in plastic bags.
2. The small garbage bins are taken away outside the areas to refuse dumps by the municipality trucks. However, 70 percent of the Palestinian residential areas lack the necessary regulations for collecting wastes.
- Solid Wastes in the West Bank
The offered service of collecting solid wastes covers 67 percent of the West Bank population. However, the collection of these wastes is carried out randomly as these wastes are thrown on the ground outside the allocated dumps, the sides of streets, and around the garbage containers. Therefore, these wastes cause harmful effects to the public health particularly after burning them inside the refuse containers, causing smoke emission.
There are 100 sites in the West Bank for collecting plant wastes. The largest site, refuse dump, is located nearby Abu Dees Village on an area that measures 3000 donums. This area is under the Israeli control and it is allocated for serving the adjacent Israeli settlements.
The solid wastes in Gaza Strip cannot be compared with the ones in the West Bank. However, the service of collecting solid wastes offered in Gaza Strip covers a larger percentage of population than the one in the West Bank due to the densely populated areas.
The solid wastes in Gaza Strip are disposed of in scattered and small refuse dumps. Currently there are two dumps for solid wastes; the first is in Gaza City and the second is in Deir Al-Balah. Also, there is a refuse dump eastern Rafah City and a project proposal for another one eastern Gaza City. The problems of solid wastes still exist in the north and south of Gaza Strip.
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