Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry on Wednesday announced a grant of 250 million shekels ($75 million) to boost the recycling of organic waste.
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Local authorities and companies are invited to submit requests for grant funding with the money going toward building new biocomposting facilities or for upgrading or operating existing facilities.
According to the ministry, organic waste accounts for about a third of the 5.8 million tons of municipal waste generated annually.
The ministry's most recent waste composition survey found that 46% of household waste is biodegradable and can be converted to methane-rich biogas through the process of anaerobic digestion or turned into compost that can help fertilize and improve the soil, facilitating plant growth.
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In January, the ministry released its strategy to bring Israel up to European standards of recycling by 2030, with households receiving financial incentives to separate waste into three containers – brown for organic waste, orange for dry waste and green for non-recyclable waste.
The policy is to separate the organic waste at the source rather than further downstream.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
