Incineration of Agriculture Waste
Almost daily, multiple incinerations of illegal plastic agriculture waste are being conducted. These incinerations generate heavy clouds of smoke that drift over many urban areas across the country. Plastic incinerations severely pollute the environment in a way that affects us all.
As the years go by, the agriculture industry in Israel increasingly develops and becomes a significant asset for economic and market development. One of the by-products of the agriculture industry is waste. Among other things, the waste produced is inorganic agriculture waste which includes large plastic sheets used for covering the soil, nets used for covering plantations, irrigation equipment, pesticide containers, and more. Presently, the agriculture industry produces more than 11,000 tons of plastic waste per year. That is about 11,000 tons of inorganic agriculture waste per year that are not dealt with properly.
What does this all mean?
That either the waste stays dumped in open areas or gets unlawfully incinerated.
The waste incinerations are ordinarily executed close to urban areas, causing severe air pollution and endangering the health of humans and wildlife alike. The incinerations are accompanied by large black clouds of smoke and a pungent smell, and thereby, they pollute the environment and are detrimental to the health of us all. The majority of the pollution occurs during plastic incineration, which can cause damage to the respiratory system, and according to experts, is a suspected carcinogen. Additionally, the discarded pesticide containers left in the field can poison wildlife and humans through inhalation or absorption of these dangerous materials. Moreover, we bear witness to incidents in which the waste causes pollution in the earth’s soil, surrounding rivers, and groundwater.
And all this is before mentioning the sheer volume of dumped waste in open fields, which constitutes an unpleasant blot on the landscape.
Agriculture waste dumped in open fields, near the town of ‘Ein Tamar’
In Israel, several laws prohibit incinerations that cause damage to the environment, but no legislation calls for the agriculture industry's inorganic waste to be recycled. This absence of enforcement results in farmers having piles of inorganic waste on their property without any reasonable solutions for the issue. Moreover, environmental inspectors have been trying to address the situation but stand powerless against the ever-increasing phenomenon of incinerations. These incinerations cause damage to our health and irreversible pollution to the environment, and nevertheless, the state still does not propose solutions for the issue!
We at 'Green Israel Forum' make every effort to bring the incinerations phenomenon to an end: we document incinerations in the field, respond to complaints of the population suffering from incinerations daily, and assist in passing a bill that will end the phenomenon once and for all!
For an extensive study on incinerations of agriculture waste:
We at the ‘Green Israel Forum’ have decided to take it upon ourselves to promote possible courses of action to settle the waste incineration problem once and for all. We held a convention participated by professionals and experts in the field.
An interview on Reshet Bet with Aryeh Golan regarding the waste incineration phenomenon.
