Coming soon? Recycling bins
צילום: Gettyimages Imagebank
Knesset to mull new recycling bill
Israel Union for Environmental Protection lobbies for new bill to increase recycling of household waste, rerouting costs to packaging manufacturers. Group's poll says 63% of Israelis would be willing to comply
The Israel Union for Environmental Protection submitted a new bill for the Knesset to review, calling it to facilitate increased household waste recycling, by making paper, plastic, glass and metal recycling bins available in every major street in Israel.
Should the Knesset support the bill, making recycling of household product containers more accessible, Israel would be able to prevent the emission of up to one million tons of greenhouse gasses a year.
According to the IUEP, 21.6% of all waste produced in Israel is that of household product containers and packages, which amount to 50% of the overall volume of waste. The current statute calls for municipalities to recycle at least one-quarter of the waste, but many of them opt for the cheaper option of underground waste concealment.
According to the new bill, the recycling responsibility will be made the manufacturers', which would be obligated to fund the proper disposal and recycling infrastructure for their products, as well as station the proper recycling bins in cities, as they do in many countries around the world.
"What this means is that the manufacturers will have to prefer recyclable materials for their packagings," said IUEP Director, Zipi Isar Itzik. "This would also make municipalities more inclined to recycle all of their waste," she added.
