Solid waste management is an essential urban service which is provided to achieve the following objectives:
A healthy city must have a planned program for effective collection and proper handling and disposal of solid waste so as to create a safe and pleasant urban environment. Hence there will be national, regional and local issues to be addressed and, increasingly, an international dimension to be considered in formulating an environmentally sound program for solid waste management.
An organized program for solid waste management in urban areas is essential if cities are to be healthy places to live, and environmentally attractive to visitors and residents. Institutional planning is the key to achieving an acceptable and affordable system, but the success of any scheme will depend on the cooperation of the people and their aspirations for a safe and aesthetically pleasing urban environment.
The amount of waste per household and the volume of industrial waste are growing rapidly. The content of waste is also changing, requiring greater care in handling and disposal. Many municipal waste collection systems currently provided are inadequate, leading to waste dumping in wadis, road sides and open spaces.
The responsibility for waste collection in the Hebron District is divided between the municipalities, town or village councils and UNRWA in the refugee camps. There are common methods for waste disposal in the district: municipal or village council waste is disposed in waste dumps, or open dump sites, and a large amount of individual waste is disposed randomly in nearby open spaces or road sides.
Over the past decades the responsible parties have paid little attention to improving the financial and technical management of their solid waste operations and have made no attempt to encourage re-use and recycling of materials. Lack of public cooperation is also a significant obstacle to effective solid waste management.
Solid waste is likely to contain human pathogens, from disposed baby diapers, paper handkerchiefs, contaminated food and waste from pets. Handling and disposal of solid wastes could present a potential for disease transmission similar to that of collection and disposal of excreta and sewage. In addition, inadequate storage and collection and poor disposal practices serve as breeding sites for rats, flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and other vermin which can act as passive vectors in transmitting diseases.
Apart from the potential health risks arise from the possible presence of infectious agents in solid waste. General public, workers employed in solid waste collection and disposal are exposed to health risks. Thus, the public health concerns and safety risks which might be associated with solid waste are:
Collection of domestic waste in the district is either the responsibility of the municipality, town and village councils or UNRWA in the refugee camps. Table 9.1 shows the distribution of responsibilities for domestic waste collection and disposal.
| Responsible Party | Disposal oF solid waste (%)
|
|---|---|
| Municipalities | 52
|
| Village & Town Councils | 22
|
| UNRWA | 4
|
| No Party designated | 22 |
The quantity of the generated domestic solid waste in the district of Hebron is estimated to be 260 tons/day excluding the refugee camps. According to UNRWA officials, the two camps Al-'Aroub and Al-Fawwar generate close to 10.3 tons/day of domestic waste. The camps dispose of their waste in a dumping site near Beit Ummar village, this dumping site is nearly 15 km away from Al-'Aroub R.C. and 25 km away from Al-Fawwar R.C.
Collection containers and vehicles that are currently used throughout the municipalities, towns, and camps vary in number and size. In the Hebron District there are approximately 680 containers of which close to 83% are 1.0-4.9 m3 in volume, 11% are 0.4-0.9 m3, 3.0% are 6.1-9.0 m3, and 2.0% are 5.0-6.0 m3. The vehicles used for collection include hand carts, agricultural tractors, and trucks of various types and capacities. There are 22 carts, 3 agricultural tractors, and 15 trucks used throughout the district. More information is shown in Appendix 4, Table 9.2.
The Hebron District is distinguished in its industrial activities. Quarrying, leather and metallic industries are the core of Hebron's industrial base. Leather industries which include leather tanning, shoe factories, and workshops constitute approximately 40%, stone cutting factories and quarries constitute approximately 15%, and the metallic industries form about 14% of the total industries in the district (Hebron Chamber of commerce, 1995).
According to ARIJ survey, approximately 31% of industrial facilities are located in residential areas, 19% in industrial area, 26% in commercial areas and the remaining 24% are located in agricultural areas. The major quarrying sites are found near Sa'ir and Yatta. Processing and manufacturing industries, mainly food and agro-processing, clothing, textile, leather products and furniture are concentrated in Hebron City. Units for tile production, and other construction materials are found in several locations in the district.
Quarrying and stone processing are considered the leading industries in the West Bank, and are also major contributors to environmental degradation and pollution. Air pollution in these areas is of great concern as enormous quantities of dust and particulate matter are released into the air causing potential harm to the nearby residents and land.
According to the Hebron Chamber of Commerce, 60 stone processing facility exist in the district. The generated solid waste from these facilities is approximately 110,000 tons/year., the majority is stone debris, about 20,000 tons/y is stone slurry. The stone debris is dumped on nearby road sides or vacant land adjacent to the facilities. The generated slurry is disposed either in open areas where it clogs the soil pores resulting in soil and plant damage or into the wastewater network system causing many technical problems to the network or the pumping station. As mentioned earlier, the pumping station at Hebron City was damaged after only a few months of operation due to slurry disposal from the stone cutting facilities. The slurry in the district is not treated before disposal, unlike some other areas of the West Bank.
Tanning of leather and hides has been an important industrial activity in the district. There are 10 tanning factories in the district located mainly in the industrial area of Hebron City. The produced leather is exported to Israel, the United States of America, and Turkey along with the local market. Irrespective of the immediate economic benefits of production, pollution from tanneries has a considerable negative long-term environmental impact. In addition to the traditional problems of air and water pollution, there are other environmental concerns such as chemical safety, contamination of land and groundwater, and the general nuisance of odor and noise of installations. Many of these impacts are on the health and safety of workers. The generated solid waste which is mainly of animal origin is a powerful pollutant in water and is also highly odorous when it decomposes. The generated solid waste from this industry is usually dumped and burned on vacant lands adjacent to the factories (Photo). The wastewater which contains large quantities of carcinogenic Chromium and Sulfide are disposed untreated in the wastewater network of the Hebron City which is subsequently disposed freely in the adjacent wadi. Table 9.3 shows the composition of a typical tannery effluent (UNEP, 1991).
| Parameter | pH | TS | TSS | BOD | COD | SO2 | Total N2 | NH4-N | Cr | Cl | SO4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concentration (ppm) | 9 | 10000 | 2500 | 900 | 2500 | 160 | 120 | 70 | 70 | 2500 | 2000
|
| Units are in ppm, except for the pH
source: UNEP/IEO Technical report series no.4 |
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Several measures to help bringing improvements in the environmental performance of the tannery industry should be enforced and carried.
The analysis of approximately 20% of the industries in the district, other than quarries and stone cutting facilities, revealed that the solid waste is generated either when the materials are produced or during packaging. Packaging material, composed of paper, carton, metal, plastic, wood and Jute, constitutes considerable amount out of the total generated waste.
The major contributors to solid waste is the metallic and leather industries. Plastic factories generate small quantities of solid waste because most of the generated waste is recycled back in the production line. The seasonally generated olive pulp in the district is approximately 9000 tons/year.
The generated wastewater from the industries surveyed excluding quarries and stone cutting facilities equals approximately 29,000 cm/yr. Table 9.4 shows the number of surveyed facilities and the generated waste as supplied by the factories owners.
| Industrial Branch | Total no. of Factories | No. of Factories surveyed | Solid Waste of those surveyed tons /year. | Liquid waste cm/year. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food & Beverage | 37 | 9 | 219 | 14,500 |
| Textile | 30 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Plastic | 39 | 7 | 20 | 0 |
| Chemicals | 10 | 3 | 150 | 15 |
| Printing | 10 | 2 | 4 | N/A |
| Fooder | N/A | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Leather Tanning | 10 | 4 | 328 | 13,350 |
| Shoes Factories | 28 | 11 | 100 | 0 |
| Metallic | 154 | 15 | 446 | 1200 |
| Carton | 4 | 3 | 110 | 0 |
| Touristic | 34 | 2 | 46 | 0 |
| Sponge mattresses | 1 | 1 | 24 | 0 |
| Table Key Notes: N/A: Not Available data | ||||
Based on the surveyed industries, the generated solid waste is disposed of by different methods as shown in Table 9.5.
| Method of Disposal | % |
|---|---|
| Municipal waste containers | 32
|
| Road-sides dumping | 37
|
| On-site burning | 7
|
| Reuse | 8
|
| All of the above methods | 11 |
The industrial sector is expected to grow more than any other sector in the coming years, presenting an increased challenge to the protection of environment. Environmental awareness among the industrial sector and environmental standards must be implemented.
Medical Waste There is a growing awareness, on a worldwide scale, of the need to impose strict controls over the disposal of wastes generated by hospitals and other health care services. Medical wastes are typically classified as follows.
The medical waste generated in the Hebron District is a threat to the population of the area, as little of the generated medical waste is properly treated before disposal and most ends up with the municipal garbage.
Before starting any proposed project to reduce the threat from medical waste, it must be considered that the waste should be disposed safely in all terms, from production to final destruction. This means, the surrounding not be polluted and that risk of infection for the people taking part in handling and disposing hospital waste should be minimized.
Three hospitals, ten private laboratories and three clinics in the district were surveyed by ARIJ. Approximately 25% of the medical centers are located in residential areas, 67% are located in commercial areas and 8% are located in industrial areas.
None of the medical centers which were visited have any special dumps or incinerators for the medical waste. Most of the waste is disposed and mixed with municipal garbage.
For example, nearly 86.7% of the blood samples are disposed directly into the garbage without any previous treatment to guarantee the prevention of microbial or viral contamination and infection, 6.6% usually incinerate the blood samples and 6.7% dispose of the blood samples in the sewage network. All other medical objects and tools are discarded with the municipal waste.
The sharp objects such as needles and lancets should be covered or placed in special containers before being disposed. More than 87% of all medical centers surveyed dump these sharp objects without any special treatment. This increases the risks of infection of those people who are dealing with such objects during collection of the garbage. Most of medical centers use septic solutions for cleaning bed sheets. On the other hand, only a few of them isolate sheets and instruments used by patients with infectious disease from the rest.
The only exceptional item sterilized by autoclave before disposal is petri dishes which are used for bacterial growth. Around 47% of the medical centers in Hebron District use autoclaving to treat petri dishes while 7% of them usually burned.
All the surgery wastes, from the general and hospitals, are held in plastic bags and disposed of into the garbage bins. Most of the lab technicians in hospitals, clinics and laboratories don't use safety equipment such as gloves or masks. Most also lack medical or health insurance coverage.
The health department does not perform any periodical inspection to medical and health centers. For example, around 87.5% of the medical centers were never subjected to any kind of inspection by the health department. A program needs to be implemented to manage medical waste in a way that reduces risks of infection, pollution, and protect the personnel responsible for handling and disposing of the medical waste. The major risks facing personnel are as follows:
