My presentation for the Third SWEEP-Net Forum focus on New Opportunities for Employment, Social Equity and Sustainable Development in the MENA Region.

1. “Organic Waste Management in the Gaza Strip, a Review & Strategy for the Future”
SWEEP-Net’s 3rd Regional
Forum, Cairo (Egypt)
By: Ramy Salemdeeb
Zero Waste MENA
www.zerowastemena.org
Wednesday, May 15th

2. What is Zero Waste MENA?
“Zero Waste MENA”, established in February 2013, is a regional initiative
to promote sustainable practices to create zero waste communities in the
Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Region.
ZW MENA objectives:
• Promote the concept of Zero Waste through awareness campaigns.
• Design social programs to engage community and public to promote zero waste plans.
• To promote and fund appropriate research for the public benefit, including education.
• To promote the principles of waste avoidance and minimization, re-use, recycling
through sustainable resource management.
www.zerowastemena.org

3. What we do?
ZW MENA is established to help local authorities and municipalities to deliver their
targets. Our team includes qualified professionals and experts from various disciplines.
ZW MENA team is there to help you to achieve your goal. Our activities includes;
• Research and publications
• Training
• Organize campaigns, conferences and workshops,
• Lobbying,
• Consultancy services, and
• Strategy development and analysis.
www.zerowastemena.org

4. “Organic Waste Management in the Gaza Strip, a Review & Strategy for the Future”
Gaza Strip (Fact Sheet)
Surface Area= 365 km2
Population:
1948 ---------- 100,000 ppl
NOW ---------- 1.6 million ppl
2020 ---------- 2.1 million ppl
2040 ---------- 3.1 million ppl
• More than 70 per cent of the population there
is under the age of 30.
• It indicated that future employment is clearly
one of the biggest concerns facing Palestinian
youth. In 2011, more than 53 per cent of young
women and 32.2 per cent of young men aged
15 to 24 were unemployed,
• In Gaza, the unemployment rate is three times
the regional average. More than 80 per cent of
Gaza’s 1.6 million residents are dependent on
international aid, and over 40 per cent live in
conditions of poverty.

5. Solid Waste Management (on-going challenges)
Why is it a challenging issue ?
• Absence of consistent national and local waste management legislation and
action Plans
• Political and security constraints due to the Intifada and the Siege.
• Limited finances of local governments and private households due to
economic standstill and losses of income
• Inefficient waste management structures and limited performance of
municipal services
• Scarcity of land for waste management installations such as landfill sites and
transfer stations due to overpopulation and areas restricted by the Israelis
(Buffer Zone).
(Source: Int. Technologieberatung Dr. Vest, 2003)

6. Waste Quantities
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
ton/day
years
Per Capita Waste Generation (HH + littering)
North Gaza
Gaza City
Deir Al Beilah
Khan Yunis
Rafah
Gaza Strip
(Adapted from: UNDP - PAPP/Feasibility Study and Detailed Design for Solid Waste Management, 2012)
Summary for 2040:
Agricultural Waste= 1200
t/d (MoA, 2011)
Household Waste= 3355 t/d
Others= 332 t/d
---------------------
Total= 4887 t/d

7. Waste Composition
Component Weight (%)
UNEP, 2003
GtZ-
ERMGKW, 200
3 EQA, 2012
Organic material 60%-70% 67% 75%
Paper and
cardboard 7%-10% 1.50% 6.40%
Plastics 5%-10% 2% 10.30%
Glass 3%-6% 1.5% 2.30%
Metals 2%-3% 1.5% 1.40%
Others 3%-7% *26.5% 1.50%
* Including nappies

8. Why do we need to do something?
“If you want to fight climate change, improve public
health, find new sources of wealth for poor people and create
new entrepreneurs, the closest thing to a silver bullet in the
world in most countries is closing all the landfills in all
the cities.” ~Bill Clinton CGI2010

9. What can we do?
• Landfilling: up to 70% of organic waste is not acceptable because it
consumes precious space at landfill sites, generate leachate and landfill
gas and create handling costs and transport tat are no longer affordable.
• Composting: in a process to treat organic waste providing valuable
fertiliser as a final output.
•Anaerobic Digestion: a HI-Tech technology which is used to treat
food waste producing two products; biogas and compost.

10. Composting “Current Projects”
• Pilot composting plant in Rafah for Agricultural waste, run by
Palestinian Environmental Friends Society.
•Composting facility under Construction in Rafah for Household
Waste, run by Palestinian Environmental Friends Society.
•Pilot composting initiative in Beit Lahia (North Gaza) by CRIC
•Municipal Solid Waste sorting & composting facility in Gaza city
Run by the Municipality of Gaza. (under construction)
•Composting facility in Deir El Balah run by the Ministry of Agriculture.
•PADICO, a private Palestinian company, has developed plans to expand
Lahia pilot into a 3.5 ha recycling and composting plant.

11. Composting
•Currently approximately 5,000 tons of compost is produced in Gaza (1%).
•The compost is sold to FAO and other international financiers, who further
distribute the compost to farmers for free.
•Attempts to have farmers directly pay for the compost have failed so far,
due to questions about the compost quality and the poor economic
circumstances under which the farmers operate.

12. Suggestions for Gaza
Local Considerations
To introduce an effective composting strategy in the Palestinian
Territories, a number of obstacles must be overcome, including:
• Legal instruments or incentives for source separation and recycling are not yet in
place
• Arabic societies do not accept waste to be stored inside the house for longer
periods
• Separate collection systems for different waste components are not yet in place
•Potential recyclers need technical and economic advice and training
• Markets for recycling goods are not yet developed in the Palestinian Territories
• Access to outside markets is difficult due to the Israeli border blockade

13. Suggestions for Gaza
“The main barriers for market development for organic “waste”-derived
compost in Gaza are the low availability of high quality compost, limited
information on compost usage and its benefits and finally lack of
incentive to separate waste at source.” UNDP Report 2012
(Gaza, 2012)

14. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
Total surface area
of Agricultural
land in Gaza
Strip= 16,000 ha
10 tons/ ha per year
Size of the local compost market
is 160,000 tons of compost per year

15. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
Organic Waste
1.3 M t/y
Green Waste
440,000 t/y
Based on 50% of the domestic waste amount calculated for 2040 , the potential compost
production would be 200,000 tons/year excluding the compost
( Excluding compost from Green Waste)
•Export the compost to West Bank and Egypt: Currently infeasible e option due to
- Political situation in the region.
- Very competitive market .
- The quality of compost is in question
Organic Waste

16. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
Waste
Avoidable Waste Unavoidable Waste
waste hierarchy

17. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
•Cover the compost market by composting agricultural organic waste (Unavoidable Waste)
- reduce the cost of collection and landfilling.
- Less contaminated by other waste (e.g. plastics, paper, etc.). Therefore, a clean
organic product could be obtained easily.
- Costs would be minimal.
If half of this agricultural waste would be kept separate and composted this however
would result in 110,000 tons of compost/year.
1. Focus on Green/Agricultural Waste for compost production.

18. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
Pilot Projects to be considered:
• Separation of organic waste at large vegetable markets in the Gaza Strip
• Green waste collection from Parks and green areas

19. Suggestions for Gaza (cont.)
•Design social programs and awareness campaign to prevent the
production of food waste
2. Prevent & Reduce Domestic Organic Waste arising by educating public.
3. AD and other advanced technologies might be considered in the future to
generate electricity .

20. Thank you!
SWEEP-Net’s 3rd Regional
Forum, Cairo (Egypt)
Zero Waste MENA
www.zerowastemena.org