The Environmental Protection Ministry has granted NIS 7.7 million ($2.08 million) in financial assistance to Arrow Ecology, an environmental management services company, in favor of building a domestic organic waste treatment facility in Hiriya – the site is a former landfill southeast of Tel Aviv. Hiriya was decommissioned several years ago and has since been turned into a waste transfer station, a recycling park and an environmental education center. According to a statement on the ministry's website, the facility is expected to handle 201 tons of domestic waste per day during the first stage of operations, and subsequently produce some 2 megawatts of electricity and 100 tons of compost, a day. Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said that, "The recycling revolution that I am leading will completely change our lives. Waste, which until now has been considered a nuisance, is now becoming raw material that can be used to produce cheap green electricity, instead of burning more polluting coal. "Israel has already buried billions of shekels worth of this raw material, and it is time we put a stop to such foolishness." The ministry has already appropriated NIS 12 million ($3.24 million) in order to form six similar facilities throughout the country, within the next two years. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter