• 
• Japanese
• 
• IETC's Focal Area
• Waste Management
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Global Partnership on Waste Management
• Background
• Objectives
  & Expected Outcomes
• Framework
• Sub-focal Areas
• Information Platform
• Meetings
• Participation / Membership
• Water and Sanitation
• Publications & Tools
• Meetings & Workshops
• Resources
• Publications & Tools
• About IETC
• Background and History
• Director
• Activity Reports
• Supporting Foundations
• Internship
• Contact Us

The Project of Waste Management in The Two Governorates of Khan Younis and Deir El Balah:
Implemented by The Solid Waste Management Council in Collaboration with The German Agency For Technical Cooperation GTZ.

Prepared by:
Salah el Borno - Director of the Council for solid waste management
P.O.Box. 6040 Deir El Balah, Gaza Strip
Fax: 972-7-2534101 , Email: borno@palnet.com

1. Aim of the project

   The project aims at establishing the collecting, transferring and disposing of municipal solid waste as an efficient, regular and economical service which follows the steps of preserving the environment. The project covers 11 municipalities that provide services for 300 000 citizens in the governorates of Khan Younis and Deir el Balah.

2. Introduction

   Prior to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian lands in Gaza Strip in 1994, the management of solid waste was the last item on the list of priorities in the agenda of the Israeli military rule in Gaza Strip. The bad practices in Gaza Strip with the absence of legislation and inspection mechanisms during the Israeli occupation resulted in inefficient and inconsistent collection services. On many occasions, waste was being dumped in open areas, farms and valleys or in some non-hygienic places in various places in Gaza Strip. This represented a looming danger to the public health and the environment, and particularly to the ground water resources, which are already poor.
   
   The project of solid waste management including 11 municipalities in the two governorates of Khan Younis and Deir el Balah started in 1994. The main problem at that time was how to achieve the general aim of the project in every municipality in the governorates, taking into consideration the financial limits of the project, especially that some municipalities had a population not exceeding 3000 citizens while others reached 90000 citizens.

   The idea of privatizing cleaning services was unknown and impractical because the standards, principles and cost of such services were unknown at that time. In effect, the regional solution was adopted, i. e. enshrining the eleven municipalities under one specialized institution (common services council). The following steps were designed to acquire the goal of the project:

   • Establishing a common or regional service council specialized in solid waste management for the municipalities within the domain of the project in the governorates of Khan Younis and Deir el Balah.
   • Providing the service of waste collection regularly and efficiently for at least 90% of the population within the boundaries of the projects. This required the proper machinery and systems for garbage collection as well as constructing garages and offices.
   • Pursuing steps for solid waste disposal that preserved the environment, and closing the random non-hygienic open dumps and erecting one central dumpsite with environmentally accepted standards.
   • Adopting an effective administrative system to manage solid waste within an institution that functioned on the bases of cost recovery to guarantee continuity in providing the services of garbage collection and disposal.

    

3. Establishing the Institution

   The Council for Solid Waste Management in the governorates of Khan Younis and Deir el Balah was established in 1995 in collaboration with the German Agency for Technical Cooperation GTZ, as a governmental company in charge of implementing technical projects within the German governmental external aid.

   The role of GTZ was to provide the infrastructure of the project such as the garages, the waste dumps, the machinery and the technical support. The role of the Council (the Owner of the project) was to provide the working force cadre and the land, as well as implement the project and paying the full costs of operation. The heads of the eleven municipalities were members of this council.

   The Palestinian ministry of local administration has approved and endorsed the council as an independent institution that works on commercial non-profit basis with a special system unlike that of other government institutions, and endorsed its ownership by the member municipalities. The reference of the council was the ministry of local administration. The council composed of the following departments:

   • Administration, with 5 employees (1director, 2garage operators, 1 accountant and 1 secretary)
   • Garages, with 33 workers (12 drivers, 18 workers and 3 technicians)
   • Waste yard, with 5 workers (2 observers and pump operators, 1 bulldozer driver & 2 guards)
   • Orientation Unit, with 7 female employees (2 in charge and 5 guides).
   • Total: 50 employees and workers.

4. The Services and systems used

   The Council for Solid Waste Management carries out the secondary waste collection process (by machines), namely, emptying garbage containers and transferring garbage to the central waste dump. Those services are enjoyed by more than 240 000 citizens divided on 11 areas, villages and cities. As for sweeping the streets and door to door garbage collection, i.e. primary collection; It is the responsibility of the local municipality.

   4.1 Garbage containers

   There are a total of 1770 garbage containers, with a capacity of 1000 Litres each, distributed on all the areas. They are emptied, daily in highly populated areas, twice or three times a week in villages and once a week in remote places. Each container is given a position number. The garbage inside a container is measured throughout the week, and the pace of emptying it per week is decided accordingly. Air maps are used for determining the places and distribution of the containers.

   4.2 Garbage Collection Vehicles

   Non compaction vehicles are used for garbage collection (a truck and a crane), they collect waste from containers of a capacity of 1000 litres. Using non-compaction vehicles was adopted because of the high density of waste reaching 500-kilograms/cubic meter. The system of vehicles and containers was designed and manufactured in Gaza, and is considered a unique system that is not used elsewhere and has proven to be efficient.

   4.3 The Central Waste dump site

   The area of the whole dump site is 70 000 square meters, its first stage which is currently in service occupies an area of 34 000 square meters. It provides services for 11 areas and cities as well as five refugee camps in the two governorates of Deir el Balah and Khan Younis, i.e. about 345 000 citizens. This site is run by the Council for Solid Waste Management and services the council's member municipalities. It also services other beneficiaries such as the United Nation's Relief and Work Agency UNRWA, which collects wastes from the refugee camps in the two governorates and uses this site according to annual contracts. It receives about 240 tons of waste every day (88 852 tons for the year 1998) according to the documents of the weight bridges in the dumpsite.

   4.4 The Standards and Operation of the Dumpsite

   • The total area of the floor of the dumpsite is liquid proof, it is coated with a special tar in order to prevent the seepage of leachate into the ground water (leachate are ten times more polluting than sewage water).
   • Leachate is collected in a pond, which is then pumped out and re-circulated by spraying on top of the waste to evaporate and keep the waste wet, which helps in speeding up the waste decomposition process. Usually, in coated dumpsites, the leachate is pumped to the sewage system and then to the water treatment plant, but since in Gaza, there are no water treatment plants at the moment, the technique of re-circulation is being used.
   • The capacity of the first stage of the dumpsite is 440 000 cubic meters with a lifetime of nine years. The capacity of the second stage is 400 000 cubic meters with a lifetime of six years.
   • The waste vehicles are weighed at the entrance of the site, and then are directed to the designated place for dumping. A special bulldozer piles the waste in layers 3-5 meters thick, where the density of the garbage reaches 1700-kilograms/cubic meter. This density is considered high if compared to densities in other dumpsites.

   4.5 The cost of constructing the dump site

   Item	Cost in US$	Hypothetical life time	Cost of annual consumption
   Asphalt road	22,000	15	1,470
   Offices and car weigh bridges	62,000	15	4,130
   Stores	17,000	15	1,130
   Coating the first stage	960,000	9	106,700
   Collection pond & pumping room	140,000	15	9,300
   Equipment & re-circulation pumps	120,000	7.5	16,000
   Total	1,321,000		138,700

   The cost of annual depreciation of the dumpsite constructions is $138 700 with a size of waste that totals 88 852 tons of waste according to 1998 calculations, i.e. $1.6 per ton.

Table of Contents

• Brochure
• 
• 



• International Year of Forests
• 
• 



• World Environment Day
• 
• 



• UNEP Campaign
• 
•