MSW is defined as waste collected and treated by or for municipalities. It covers waste from households, including bulky waste, similar waste from commerce and trade, office buildings, institutions and small businesses, as well as yard and garden waste, street sweepings, the contents of litter containers, and market cleansing waste if managed as household waste. The definition excludes waste from municipal sewage networks and treatment, as well as waste from construction and demolition activities. This indicator is measured in thousand tons and in kilograms per capita.

5.4 million tons of municipal and commercial waste are generated in Israel each year.
1.8 million tons of solid waste generated annually is biodegradable.
This is equivalent to nearly 35% of total municipal solid waste.
Waste production in Israel grows at a rate of 1.8% per year.
The average resident of Israel generates 1.7 kilograms of waste daily.
About 75% of the total waste produced in Israel is buried in landfills.
About 25% is recycled.

This is the reverse of the European trend, where most of the waste is recycled or recovered, and only a small portion is still landfilled.

In order to continue to shape Israeli legislation and policy so that it is geared toward greatly increasing recycling and recovery rates, and reducing the amount of trash landfilled, policymakers must have a clear idea of the amount of waste generated, the composition of that waste, and where it goes.

Percentage of total waste recycled: 25%
(0.8 million tons per year).

Percentage of organic waste recycled: 12%
(0.22 million tons per year).

Percentage of paper & cardboard recycled: 34%
(0.42 million tons per year).

Percentage of plastic recycled: 6%
(0.06 million tons per year.

Amount of metal recycled: 250,000 tons per year.

Israeli government's target: 50% recycling by 2020.

Analyzing the waste situation in Israel I have learned that the waste management program and policy in Israel is improving and advancing towards creating a better system for the treatment of MSW. Although, I have also learned that, in-spite of the progressive steps taken, by 2030 a deficit in volume of waste with treatment solutions will arise. The availability estimation for waste volume treated according to all of the proposed scenarios show a shortage of about 38% in the best scenarios (C and  D) and up to about 60% according to scenario A (not to mention 80% of untreated waste if the old policy is to be continued).

These facts, in my opinion, obligate additional planning of supplementary systems for the treatment of the remainder percentage of waste previously mentioned. One of the main innovative systems introduced in many waste management programs around the world is incineration of waste resulting in the production of electricity, heat and a significant volume reduction (95%-96%) of the original waste volume.

Therefore, the construction of such systems must be promoted as the country will face a waste crisis in the following decade.    The establishment of an  incineration  facility will be the backbone foundation element around which this project will evolve.

“Incineration” is a  thermal treatment technology for waste where waste is combusted in-order to recover energy. In this process the waste material is converted in to gases, particles and heat that later will be used for the generation of electricity. Incineration reduces the mass of treated waste by at least 80% and up to around 95% of its initial volume. This reduction depends upon the recovery degree and composition of materials. Incineration has a number of benefits in specific areas such as medical wastes and other toxic waste. Toxins are destroyed during treatment at high temperatures. Incineration or thermal treatment of waste is becoming very popular in many countries around the world and especially  in places where there is scarcity of land. The energy generated by incineration is highly demanded in countries like Denmark and Sweden. In 2005 it was estimated that 4.8% of the electricity and 13.7% of heat consumed Denmark was produced by incineration. Other then Denmark and Sweden many European countries are recovering heat and electricity from waste.

Officially known as the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. Israel’s financial and technology center is Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital. The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with the one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world.

The State of Israel is divided into six main administrative districts, known as “Mehozot” – Center, Haifa, Jerusalem, North, Southern, and Tel Aviv Districts, as well as the Judea and Samaria Area in the West Bank. All of the Judea and Samaria Area and parts of the Jerusalem and Northern Districts are not recognized internationally as part of Israel. Districts are further divided into fifteen sub-districts known as “Nafot”, which are themselves partitioned into fifty natural regions.

For statistical purposes, the country is divided into three metropolitan areas:  

- Tel Aviv metropolitan area
   (population 3,206,400)  

- Haifa metropolitan area
  (population 1,021,000)  

- Beer Sheva metropolitan area
  (population 559,700)

Israel’s largest municipality, in population and area, is Jerusalem with 773,800 residents in an area of 126 square kilometers (in 2009).

Geographic RegionsIsrael is divided into 4 main regions:

- The Coastal plain

- The Mountain region     

- The Jordan Valley Rift

- The Negev Desert area

As mentioned previously, the backbone of the project is the construction of a WTE plant for the incineration of MSW that will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat(in the form of steam and later hot water).Israel is characterized by a warm climate during most of the year and a short winter period where temperatures rarely descend below 100C (Jerusalem).While in Europe and North America, for example, the use of the heat generated from WTE plants is used for district heating, in Israel the demand for this resource is quite low. Thus, a different use should be applied in-order to benefit from this resource. The main concept is to create a touristic center adjacent to the plant in which a system of artificial hot springs will be constructed and fed by the hot water produced by the plant, thus, functioning as the cooling system for the reuse of the water in the following cycles of the incineration process. In addition part of the heat energy can facilitate needs of neighboring industrial structures if needed. In this way additional connections between the general public and the plant could be created and possibilities for wider range of economic benefits could be established.

For the selection of the location of the site several issues where considered:

- The site should be accessible for transportation of waste from the main cities of the Central, Tel-Aviv,
  Southern and Jerusalem districts, as it will treat waste from all of the above (distance should be no
   more than 80km from these nodes).

- The site should have access to the railroad system for 2 reasons:

- Transporting the waste by rail has economic and environmental benefits.

- Israel’s MoEP policy does not favor incineration of waste mainly for the fact that, from their point of view,
  incineration opposes recycling due to the fact it uses waste as “fuel” for the process, thus, demanding and
  promoting the production of waste instead of its reduction. We have learned from the previous chapters
  that in any case there is an urgent need for additional systems for waste treatment. Assuming MoEP’s
  policy is correct, there are still several hundreds of closed landfill sites i have mentioned previously, most of
  which are situated in the vicinity of the railroad system. If the country manages to treat 100% of the MSW
  volume without incineration, a plant of this kind could receive waste from these sites, thus, continuing its
  function while curing these areas and without provoking additional waste production.

- The selected area should be big enough to contain the “industrial” functions as well as the “public” ones.

Considering the above mentioned issues, a site near the city of Beit-Shemesh was found to fit the required needs for the project. The location lies at the foothills of the Jerusalem mountains and is accessible either by road or railroad and is situated in vicinity to Beit-Shemesh’s industrial area, connected to the city but isolated in a manner  that will not disturb the local inhabitants. In addition the site is well connected to the surrounding nature in way that will serve greatly the “touristic” aspect of the project, creating possibilities for the project to become a node facilitating and connecting travelers to the rich natural and historic resources of the surrounding area.

One of the main benefits of the location selected, in my opinion and in direct correspondence to the general intention and aim of this thesis, is the fact that the site is situated at the base of a large quarry system, to date, partially closed and with a mining reserve that will be exhausted by the time a project of this scale will get approved and prepared for on-site construction.

Therefore, the initial program for the planning phase is composed by 2 main divisions:

- WTE plant: programmed to be placed on an open plane found at the entrance of the area and directly
   connected to the railroad system.

- Quarry System: this vast area which is already “naturally” divided into several sub-areas is programed to
   become the “touristic” element of the project, a special park of artificial hot springs located in an area
   already known as “the land of springs” due to the presence of many small historic springs scattered
   around the Jerusalem mountains. Containing several different functions for the benefit of visitors arriving
   to the site, this, currently, ”scarred” land is to be rehabilitated and re-born with a new given identity
   suitable for an optimized integration with the surrounding nature, thus, transforming into a major
  attraction for tourism in area.