Environment Ministry inaugurates new facility for recycling building waste

Located in Kedumim in northern West Bank, the facility separates materials that can be used again for new building and infrastructure projects, reducing what is sent to landfills

The Environmental Protection Ministry on Tuesday inaugurated an advanced facility for recycling construction waste, meant to enable the reuse of as much waste as possible and to reduce the amount buried at landfills.

The facility, which received NIS 5.6 million ($1.76 million) from the ministry, is located at the Braun industrial zone of Kedumim in the northern West Bank.

The idea is for reusable materials to be channeled back into new construction and infrastructure projects, in line with the principles of a circular economy.

As part of a broader reform of the building waste sector, the ministry is also seeking to amend legislation to increase enforcement against illegal dumping of building waste.

The amendment, which is awaiting its second and third readings in the Knesset, includes an obligation to equip waste trucks with digital chips to ensure they reach their intended destination.

The dumping of building and other waste along roads in the West Bank has reached massive proportions as interested parties seek to avoid paying landfill fees.

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Ministry’s Director General, Rami Rosen, told a Knesset committee that his ministry had made “all the compromises possible” to the Finance Ministry, and that he hoped the bill would finally complete its passage through the Knesset.