An-Najah National University

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Sustainable Energy Technology Program, PhD
Sustainable Waste Management and Disposal Class

G A P A N A LY S I S S T U D Y F O R

PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT IN

PALESTINE
Prepared by: Rania Ismail 12070190

Submitted To: Prof. Amer Al-Hamouz

Submission Date: March 24th, 2021

Solid Waste Management in Palestine
Introduction:

 Palestine faces many difficulties in

solid waste management due to the
policies of the occupation.

 Waste amounts are increasing due

to both population growth and
consumption patterns.

 This calls for better management

and a concerted effort among all
sectors to find solutions to this
problem.

[1]
Solid Waste Management in Palestine
Reuse/ Recycling Activities [2]
 Recycling policy and introduction of the 3Rs (reduce, recycle, re-use) have been mentioned in several
official documents (the Environmental Law of 1999 and in the two National Strategies, 2010-2014
and 2017-2022).
 Supported, through various awareness events and publications.
 Separation at source is in general not implemented (except in some cases and at a very small level).
 Waste minimization is absent.
Solid Waste Management in Palestine
Reuse/ Recycling Activities [2]
 About 4 % of the total waste and about 30 private companies in the West Bank (out of 19,367 in
2016) are involved in this sector.
- only 1% of all solid waste is currently being recycled,
- 3% recovered or reused materials.
- In a 2010, around a quarter (1/4) of recycling in Palestine was that of plastic [3].
 There is no comprehensive data about the total quantities of waste separated and recycled in the
WB.
 The waste reuse and recycling market for paper, glass, metal and plastics remains very small and
informal.
 Depend on the fluctuating market (international and local prices, variable demand and offer) and
operational costs
Recyclables - Plastic
Current Situation [4-5]

 Potential for Plastic recycling and composting:

- help solve the problem of the increasing amounts of solid

waste.
- improving cost recovery and generating new job
opportunities.
- biodegradables and recyclables constitute the majority of
solid waste generated in Palestine.
Recyclables - Plastic
Current Situation [2]

 The recycled plastic market is still very small and suffers from a
lack of investment both from the Joint Service Councils (JSCs) and
the private sector.

 Low revenues and the poor quality of the final products.

 This sector is basically all informal, waste pickers/waste buyers go to

the landfills or transfer stations to get the material.
Recyclables - Plastic
Current Situation [2]

 High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and

Polypropylene (PP) are the types of plastics collected from
dumpsites, landfills or transfer stations by second-hand
dealers not segregated by color nor type.

 PET plastic is traded with Israeli industries with special

requirements (only items produced in Israel)
Recyclables - Plastic
Current Situation [4-5]
 A few plastic recycling facilities are located in the Nablus and Hebron region, as well as in
Gaza [*].

- Factories in Dura produce low quality flakes and in Nablus fruit cages.
- For example: SAB Plastic company in Nablus
- In Hebron Ettihad Recycling factory receives 1t /day from the landfill and 600-700 kgs from
other sources.
- In Gaza, the Ramlawi Plastic Factory collects plastic for re-use.

 Several pilot projects have been conducted/launched with the aim to separate plastic at
primary or secondary collection.
-The example of the plastic recycling system in Gaza in 2010; http://
www.oecd.org/derec/italy/Emergencyprogrammes-Palestine.pdf
- The pilot project adopted by Ramallah municipality in 2016; https://
www.bankofpalestine.com/en/media-centre/newsroom/details/566

 A certain amount of plastic is sorted in some transfer stations like in Yatta or at Al Minya
landfill for example, however these projects are often discontinued on the long term.
Recyclables - Plastic
Current Situation- Gaza Strip [5]

 Gaza Strip produces plastic waste with a percentage of 16% from the total waste generation
in Gaza strip.
 Around 15 grinding plastic workshops and around 74 factories in Gaza Strip.
 10 tons of plastic are being recycled daily and 250 tons monthly.
 3% of the daily generated plastic wastes are being recycled in Gaza Strip.
 The main problems that the plastic recycling industry faces in Gaza strip are:
- Shortage of energy and fluctuating prices due to closure
- Limited availability of required machines, equipment or spare parts due to
current political situation.
Plastic Waste Regulatory and Laws [3]

In the case of West Bank and Gaza Strip, despite the adoption of the Solid Waste
Bylaws, plastic waste management faces several challenges:
 no specific regulations for the plastic sector;
 lack of trained staff and course opportunities about safety, collection and disposal
procedures;
 lack of financial resources and modern or appropriate material;
 lack of reliable/recent and systematic collection/records of data
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management

CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

The implementation of an effective and integrated SWM in Palestine is confronted with several challenges:
- legislative,
- organizational,
- technical,
- environmental and
- financial levels.

- This situation is further complicated by the lack of statistical data needed for decision making, planning
and monitoring operations.

- The complications of the current political situation add its own challenges, such as the limited
Palestinian control over land and resources.
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management

CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

1. Institutional and Organizational Challenges

 Incomplete legislative framework, weak legislation enforcement

- Essential plastic waste management requirements are not addressed adequately in any of the existing legislations.
- There is a need for a comprehensive and inclusive plastic waste management legislation, that would regulate this sector in
an integrated manner with other waste categories.

 Need for dealing with Plastic WM standards and specifications

- There are no Palestinian standards for dealing with plastic waste, or for transfer stations, recycling operations, etc.
- Making these standards available is vital for achieving effectiveness and safety and for protecting the environment.
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management
CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

1. Institutional and Organizational Challenges

 Poor capacities of the SW institutions and lack of Capacity Building Programs
• The current status shows lack of SW capacity and training (human, financial, and organizational) at the national and
institutional levels.
• There is also no national program including a separation/recycling fund for the JSCs and municipalities or even the private
sector.
• There is a need to build these capacities to achieve effective and updated management of SW.
• There is also a need to develop capacity for other systems, such as recycling processes and social and environmental
management.

 Non-systematic planning operational management, monitoring and reporting activities

- There are limited monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities.
- Data collection is also missing.
- Most of waste management reports are usually not publicly disclosed.
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management
CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

2. Technical Challenges
 Challenging Plastic Waste collection

The need for appropriate mechanisms to collect plastic wastes.

There are still limited available statistics for the quantities of these wastes.
Plastic wastes collection and disposal procedures are needed to be adopted within the Bylaws and Guidance Manual in
the near future.

 The fragility in terms of waste management costs recovery and dependence on external funding
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management
CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

2. Technical Challenges
 Limited professional knowledge and initiatives about separation operations and recycling programs

There is an evident absence of the concept of waste minimization at the source,

The Palestinian expertise in this field is still limited.
This expertise is confined to individual initiatives at homes, which is linked to the environmental awareness of some
There are some models and experiments for waste recycle, which have not been publicized enough to extract lessons
from them.
As a result, achieving significant waste minimization and recycling goals requires additional national policies aiming at
elevating public awareness in this area and encouraging the private sector to invest in SW separation and recycle
operations.
Gaps in Plastics Waste Management
CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

2. Technical Challenges
 Insufficient public awareness and poor involvement of the civil society

The current human and financial resources are unavailable to carry out the needed awareness activities

• There is a need to raise the awareness of people about the real costs of solid waste.
• There is a lack of support by the government for PPP involvement in the solid waste sector and providing
incentives.
• There is a need finally to establish a national consortium including all stakeholders on the issue of SWM.

This commitment comes with:

- A national message to keep Palestine clean,
- A generalized education program focused on waste disposal and recycling,
- An effective communication strategy
What is next?!

- Prepare different surveys to be filled by all stakeholders in the SW field

- Prepare a proposal for national guideline to manage Plastic Waste in Palestine

References

1. Plastic Atlas (2020), https://ps.boell.org/en/2020/10/07/palestine-solid-waste-management-under-occupation, accessed on 15.3.2021

2. Valérie Thöni & Samir K.I. Matar (2019), SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY West Bank including East
Jerusalem & Gaza Strip, CESVI,
https://www.cesvi.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/SWM-in-Palestine-report-Thoni-and-Matar-2019_compressed-1.pdf, accessed on
10.3.2021.
3. PNA (2017), The National Strategy for Solid Waste Management in Palestine (2017-22).
4. GIZ (2014), Country report on the solid waste management in Occupied PALESTINIAN Territories, The Regional Solid Waste Exchange of
Information and Expertise network in Mashreq and Maghreb countries.
5. European Environment Agency (2014), Horizon 2020 Mediterranean report Annex 5: Palestine, EEA Technical report No 6/2014 ISSN 1725-2237.
6. UNRWA (2017), UNRWA west bank field operational solid waste management strategy,
https://www.cesvi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/UNRWA-Solid-Waste-Management-Strategy.pdf , accessed on 8.3.2021.
7. INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY (IEEP) (2018), Policy Approaches to Incentives Sustainable Plastic Design.
https://www.oecd.org/environment/waste/background-paper-policy-approaches-to-incentivise-sustainable-plastic-design.pdf , accessed on
1.3.2021.
8. Plastic ZERO, How to prepare a road map for the management of plastic waste, www.plastic-zero.com, accessed on 1.3.2021.
9. Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN Dialogue Instrument (E-READI) (2019), CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND PLASTICS: A GAP-ANALYSIS IN ASEAN MEMBER
STATES.
https://www.iges.or.jp/en/publication_documents/pub/policyreport/en/10382/FINAL_CE+and+Plastics+-+A+gap+analysis+in+ASEAN+Member+S
tates_1004.pdf
, accessed on 2.3.2021.