Climate Justice in Israel
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Climate Justice in Israel Inequality in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Processes of Production and Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste Position Paper No. 2 2015 By: Tamar Neugarten Editing: Carmit Lubanov, Dan Rabinowitz Translation: Sagit Porat / Design: Dana Zahavi Climate Justice in Israel Inequality in Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Processes of Production and Treatment of Municipal Solid Waste Position Paper No. 2 2015* By: Tamar Neugarten Editing: Carmit Lubanov, Dan Rabinowitz Translation: Sagit Porat / Design: Dana Zahavi The Climate Justice Research and Policy project is supported by the Rosa Luxemburg t׳Stiftung. The content of the document is the sole responsibility of AEJI and doesn necessarily reflect the position of RLS. * This document was originally published in Hebrew in 2013. The full English translation is published in October 2015. The Information was up-to-date at the time of the original Hebrew publication. Abstract This document is part of an extensive research project addressing climate justice in Israel, initiated by the Association of Environmental Justice in Israel (AEJI) and undertaken in collaboration with Tel Aviv University. The goals of the project are to research the socio-economic characteristics of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced from different sources in Israel, and formulate policy tools, including social- and behavioral-economic tools. Between the years 2011-2013, the research focused on four main spheres: domestic electricity consumption; use of transportation (privately owned vehicles); food consumption; and the production and treatment of solid waste – the issue addressed by this document. Based on availability of data, we had examined Quantities of waste production in different localities in Israel and the rate of emissions from waste in each locality; and compared between localities according to their classifications as cities, local councils (smaller towns) and regional (rural) councils, and their classification into socio-economic clusters. The results of these calculations are expressed by carbon inequality coefficients – which reflect the disparity between emission quantities per person in the different clusters as related to the Quantity of emissions in cluster 1 (the poorest). The following tables, summarizing the results of the research, indicate that environmental injustice does exist with regard to GHG emissions from waste, but its extent varies in accordance with the type of locality. Carbon Inequality Coefficients (by locality type and national average) Cluster 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cities 1 1.148 1.300 1.351 1.580 1.493 1.417 1.943 2.425 - Local councils 1 1.200 1.481 2.273 1.631 2.511 2.066 2.005 1.948 4.018 - Regional councils 1 - - 2.347 3.246 3.087 1.693 3.694 - National average 1 1.138 1.434 1.547 1.806 1.805 1.665 2.155 2.233 3.581 Waste Production by Socio-Economic Clusters – Minimum and Maximum Values (by locality type and national average) Minimum Maximum C C Kg emissions luster Kg emissions luster Kg waste Kg waste from waste from waste Carbon per person per person Inequality per day per person per day per person per annum per annum Coefficient Cities 1.11 138.09 1 2.70 334.83 9 2.425 Local councils 0.88 109.47 1 3.55 439.82 10 4.018 Regional councils 0.64 79.26 1 2.36 292.80 8 3.694 National average 0.99 122.83 1 3.55 439.82 10 3.581 1 The study findings indicate that different population groups have varied contributions to emissions, and that residents of localities in the higher and wealthier clusters contribute more to emissions than residents of the lower and poorer cluster localities. Additionally, clear differences are noted in ineQuality patterns between different types of localities. In cities, which is the type of locality comprising the great majority of the population of Israel – almost 76% of all residents – a resident of a socio-economic cluster 8 city is responsible for almost twice as many GHG emission originating in waste than a resident of a socio-economic cluster 1 city; and any resident of a socio-economic cluster 9 city is responsible to 2.4 times more emissions originating in waste than a resident of socio- economic cluster 1 resident. These research findings are important in order to enable an informed examination of the economic and social implications that policies addressing waste treatment will have on different populations in Israel; in order to enable the construction of policy tools that take into consideration the contribution of different population groups to the climate crisis; and to internalize the "polluter pays" principle. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 1 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... 3 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Environmental Aspects of Waste Production and Treatment ............................................ 5 1.2 Environmental Justice Aspects of Waste Production and Treatment ................................. 6 1.3 Waste Treatment Policies in Israel: Review ..................................................................... 7 2. MuniciPal Solid Waste and Its Measurement ............................................................ 9 2.1 Definitions ................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Indicators for the Measurement of Municipal Solid Waste Quantities ............................... 9 2.3 Problems and Challenges in Measurement of Waste Quantity ........................................ 10 3. Production and Treatment of MuniciPal Solid Waste in Israel and the World ............ 11 3.1 Municipal Solid Waste Production in Israel ................................................................... 12 3.2 Municipal Solid Waste Treatment in Israel .................................................................... 13 3.2.1 Recycling .......................................................................................................... 13 3.2.1.1 Recycling Habits Survey – 2012-2013 .................................................................. 14 3.2.2 Separation at Source ......................................................................................... 16 4. Methodology ........................................................................................................ 18 4.1 Conduct of the Research ............................................................................................. 19 5. Findings ................................................................................................................ 20 5.1 Identifying Waste Quantities per Person Produced in Localities in Israel .......................... 20 5.2 Assessment of Waste Composition in Israel .................................................................. 25 5.3 Calculating Greenhouse Gas Emission Coefficients from Different Types of Waste in Israel .... 27 5.3.1 Greenhouse Gases Released by Waste ................................................................ 28 5.3.2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Waste Treatment Processes ................................... 29 5.4 Calculating GHG Emissions Coefficients in Different Locality Types ................................. 30 5.5 Calculating Total GHG Emissions from Waste in Localities in Israel .................................. 31 6. Results – Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Waste in Israel ....................................... 32 6.1 Carbon Inequality Index – General ............................................................................... 32 6.2 Carbon Inequality Index – by Type of Locality ................................................................ 33 6.2.1 Cities ................................................................................................................ 33 6.2.2 Local Councils ................................................................................................... 34 6.2.3 Regional Councils .............................................................................................. 35 6.3 Summary of Results .................................................................................................... 36 6.4 Comments on the Use of Socio-Economic Clusters as Index ........................................... 36 7. Recommendations ................................................................................................ 37 7.1 Improving the Collection of Information and Data ......................................................... 37 7.2 Adopting Policy Measures that Take Environmental and Climate Justice into Consideration ...... 38 7.3 Continued Focus on Organic Waste as Key to Mitigating Emissions from Waste ............... 39 3 List of Figures Figure 1: Municipal Solid Waste Production – Kg per Person per Annum (2010 data) ..................... 12 Figure 2: Municipal Solid Waste Treatment in Israel – 2000 to 2010 .............................................. 13 Figure 3: Waste Production Quantities (Kg per Person per Day) in a Locality, in Relation to the Locality's Socio-Economic Rating ..................................................... 25 Figure 4: GHG Flow Resulting from Landfilling Mixed Household Waste ........................................ 29 List of Tables Table 1: Quantities of Municipal Solid Waste Transported