The list of environmental laws in Israel has been growing in recent years. Some of the legislation has resulted from international conventions, while some of it originated locally, in response to hazards and challenges unique to Israel.
From a legal standpoint, the Damages Ordinance - 1944 initially served as the basis for most public claims on environmental issues. The 1990s saw an upturn in parliamentary activity in this context and an expansion of environmental laws in a range of areas. Israel's efforts to reduce pollution, as dictated by conventions, and conserve nature focus on several issues: waste management, recycling, the promotion of alternative energy sources, and the preservation of nature, including the coastline.
Waste Management
A significant indicator of a society that conducts itself according to Western standards is the level of consumption. Increased consumption creates increased waste, since it is more common to simply replenish the stock of goods than to refurbish or rejuvenate old goods. There are several methods of handling solid waste (in descending order of preference): minimizing the production of initial goods, recycling, reusing, burning, and burying (in pits or landfills). The advantages of recycling are that it helps to reduce air pollution, save energy, reduce damage caused by burial sites, and conserve natural resources such as forests.
While in Western Europe recycling is common practice, the first attempt to institute a recycling policy in Israel ran into numerous difficulties; the original bill in the late 1980s was very basic and lacked the tools for implementation. It included the Deposit Law for Beverage Containers and a requirement that businesses take back used packaging. The Law was stuck in a bureaucratic maze for several years until it was finally passed in 1993. Since it was enacted, the percentage of recycled waste in Israel has climbed from 6% in 1995 to 23% in 2005. But despite the sizeable increase, it is important to note that in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Japan, only 12%-19% of all waste is buried, with the remainder being recycled.
A number of steps contributed to the rise in recycling rates in Israel:
- The closing of dozens of unregulated dumping sites
- The setting up of waste-sorting plants
- The shifting of responsibility for waste management to municipalities, in accordance with the Collection and Disposal of Waste for Recycling Law 5753-1993
- The passage of a regulation stipulating that every municipality is obligated to recycle a certain percentage of waste (Collection and Disposal of Waste for Recycling Regulations [Obligation of Waste Disposal for Recycling] 5758-1998)
In 1999, further progress was made when the Deposit Law on Beverage Containers 5759-1999 went into effect; related regulations were added to the Law in 2001.
Nonetheless, most waste in Israel is buried, and the method of burial places the land and water at risk of pollution. In order to bring about change in this area, it was necessary not only to promote recycling but also to make the use of landfills (which is the least expensive alternative) an unattractive option. Toward this end, amendment no. 9 to the Maintenance of Cleanliness Law 5744-1984 was enacted in 2007, imposing levies on landfill operators for the burial of solid waste in accordance with the weight of the waste. Similar efforts to reduce the use of landfills are being implemented in other states.
The trend toward reduction of landfill use as a method of waste disposal is reflected in the Tire Disposal and Recycling Law 5767-2007, which went into effect on July 1, 2007. The Law is intended to prevent the unregulated burning of tires and reduce the burying of tires in landfill sites. Manufacturers and importers of tires are now responsible for the disposal and/or recycling of used tires; the goal is to have a minimum of 85% of tires being recycled annually, beginning in July 2012. Financial penalties will be imposed on manufacturers and importers who do not meet the targets for disposal or recycling. A similar method of handling obsolete tires is practiced in numerous European states.
Sun, Wind, and Water - Renewable Energy
An additional method of reducing air pollution is by switching to electricity production from renewable energy sources: the sun, wind, and water. Solutions of this type are still in the early stages in Israel, but a Cabinet resolution has already been accepted on the matter. On November 4, 2002, the Ministerial Committee for Social and Economic Affairs (known as the Social-Economic Cabinet) passed Resolution no. 2664, aimed at promoting the establishment of power stations to produce electricity from renewable energy. The goal was that 2% of the electricity in Israel would be produced from renewable energy sources starting in 2007, with an increase of 1% every six years. In practice, however, less than 1% of Israel's electricity is being produced from alternative energy today.
To aid in implementing this policy, the National Infrastructures Ministry is taking steps to institute regulations for the production of electricity from alternative energy sources, under which the Israel Electric Corporation will be required to purchase electricity produced from alternative energy so that private individuals will be able to produce electricity themselves and connect their appliances to their home electrical system. Work in this area is progressing slowly.
Who Owns the Coast?
Seventy percent of Israel's population resides in a 190-km long coastal strip bordering the Mediterranean Sea. In 1970, the National Council for Planning and Construction began formulating a planning scheme for the development of the coastal region; the plan received Cabinet approval in 1983. A central point was the ban on construction for a distance of 100 meters inland from the coast. But the planning scheme, which included marinas, was unsuccessful in preventing the destruction of the coast as a result of their rapid expansion. A determined struggle by environmental organizations led to the Protection of the Coastal Environment Law 5764-2004, aimed at protecting the coastline and prohibiting construction for a distance of 300 meters inland (in places where building plans have not yet been approved). The Law is also intended to permit unhampered access to all; however, its implementation has been complicated by the fact that broad expanses of the coastline have already been blocked.
In recent years, we have witnessed significant developments in environmental protection, many of them thanks to the unwavering efforts of environmental organizations and to growing awareness of the issue in the world at large.
It is worth noting some additional changes in this area:
- The conversion of the Reading Power Station from reliance on crude oil to natural gas
- The decision to establish Ayalon Park (a major "green lung" for the entire Tel Aviv region)
- The cancellation of the plan for building a marina and buildings on the Surfers' Beach in Bat Galim
- The passage of the Clean Air Law (first reading)
- The approval of a law regulating cellular antennas
- The cancellation of a phosphate mining plan in the Negev
- The setting of a timetable for removal of the floating fishing cages from the Gulf of Eilat
The above changes, when viewed collectively, allow room for cautious optimism. In particular, they indicate that environmental issues are no longer a luxury that can be shunted to the margins of state policy. Environmentalism is making its way, slowly but surely, into public discourse, and emerging as a basic right and a moral obligation.
Naomi Himeyn Raisch is a Research Assistant at the IDI and an M.A. student at the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.