According to the Israeli Environment Ministry‘‘s Solid Waste Division, each person in Israel generated 1.6 kilograms of waste per day in 2004 or some 584 kilograms per year. The total quantity of waste generated in Israel each year is some 5.8 million tons (including municipal and industrial waste). The goal of the Ministry of the Environment is to recover the components of the country‘‘s solid waste through recycling so that these may be returned to the economy as raw materials.

Environment Minister Shalom Simhon has stated that recycling rates in Israel continue to rise - from a mere 3% in the beginning of the 1990s to about 20% in 2004. With the joint efforts of government ministries and local government, it should be possible to reach a 50% recovery rate in 2010.

Simhon added that recovery rates should continue to increase when a landfill fee is imposed which will reflect the true costs of landfilling and when advanced treatment methods such as recycling and waste to energy facilities are further developed. The landfill fee will internalize the external costs of landfilling such as air pollution and water source contamination and the illnesses associated with them. Today, these costs are not paid by landfill users but are rather borne by the state.

Waste Generation Statistics Based on data received from landfills, transfer stations and recycling plants in Israel, following are some salient data on municipal waste generation in Israel:

Five local authorities with the highest rates of waste per capita:


Savion - 4.59 kg of waste per person per day
person per dayEilat - 3.02 kg of waste per person per day
Tiberias - 3.02 kg of waste per person per day
Tel Aviv - 2.73 kg of waste per person per day
Yehud-Neve Ephraim - 2.37 kg of waste per person per day

According to the director of the Solid Waste Division, Mr. Ilan Nissim, a correlation exists between the quantity of waste generated and consumption patterns. The Division intends to continue to work toward the advancement of solid waste treatment which is unaccompanied by environmental degradation and nuisances. Furthermore, the Division will continue to promote an integrated waste treatment policy based on reduction at source, reuse, recycling, energy recovery and landfilling. In parallel, it aims to advance the treatment of construction and demolition waste with the purpose of transforming it from nuisance to resource.

Additional information on waste generation trends in major cities:


Waste quantities in Eilat are higher than average (3.02 kg), probably due to the waste generated by the numerous hotels and large numbers of tourists in the city. This trend has continued for the past three years.
Waste quantities in Tel Aviv have declined over the past five years: 3.27 kg in 2000, 2.94 kg in 2001, 2.85 kg in 2002, 2.75 kg in 2003 and 2.73 kg in 2004. This trend indicates a decrease in consumption levels.
Waste quantities generated in Jerusalem and Beersheba have remained nearly identical over the past five years - about 1.25 kg per capita in Jerusalem and 1.7 kg per capita in Beersheba.
The lowest reported quantities of waste are in the Bedouin sector in the Negev - Rahat - 0.32 kg, Keseifa - 0.36 kg, Hura - 0.39 kg, Arara - 0.43 kg.

Recycling and Recovery Facts

In 2004, about a million tons of waste were recycled in Israel. Most of Israel‘‘s solid waste is recycled by 8 sorting and recycling plants. Some 110 local authorities take part in recovery and recycling efforts, thus contributing to the conservation of Israel‘‘s limited land resources. In 2004, some 45 million beverage containers (1.5 liters and more) were collected by a private recycling company and 303 million containers (under 1.5 liters) were collected under the Deposit Law.http:>