Ras Al-Ayn: A Model for Composting in Israel!

Israel’s search for solutions to solid waste management has been no secret. Last year, for instance, the Knesset passed new taxes for dumping in landfills, and a law requiring businesses to recycle tires.

Luckily, it’s not only the policymakers who are working on the problem, and it’s not only the Jewish sector either! Ras al-Ayn, an Arab-Israeli village in the Galilee is currently operating a compost project that could serve as a model for organic waste recycling throughout the entire country

Naif Sweid, a citizen of Ras al-Ayn, initiated the community compost project. Several of the village’s 60 families separate their organic waste (like kitchen scraps and garden clippings) from their non-organic waste, according to Sweid’s instructions. Sweid then collects the compostable materials once a week, and mixes it in a composter in his backyard. He hopes to be able to return fertilizer to the families in the near future.

Dr. Doron Lavi of Tel Hai Academic College indicated that the Ras al-Ayn model of household separation and municipal collection can be a model for other communities in Israel, even large municipalities.

The Ras al-Ayn project is a partnership between the village and Eretz Carmel, an environmental NGO founded in 2006. The organization runs similar programs in several dozen Arab-Israeli villages, and plans to extend the project to 100,000 families over the next four years.

To learn more about Eretz Carmel, check out their website :: www.eretzcarmel.org.

:: Haaretz.com

For more Prophecies on composting organic waste, read up on Why Doesn’t Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market Compost (or Recycle)? or “The Compost Guy” on a Composter’s Delight and Dilemma in Tel Aviv

Photo credit: dhklucy