Knesset panel advances bill aiming to regulate construction waste disposal

The Knesset Interior and Environmental Protection Committee advances a bill aiming to regulate the disposal of construction waste.

The bill will now move to its second and third readings in the full Knesset plenum. If it passes those readings, it will become law.

The Ministry estimates that around 7.3 million tons of construction and renovation waste are generated each year, of which over a million tons are dumped in open space, endangering the environment and public health.

Truck drivers are paid by building contractors to transport the waste to regulated sites, but often dump it by roadsides to avoid having to pay gasoline costs and landfill fees.

The bill seeks to create a reporting and control system that tracks waste from the point of its generation to regulated and supervised recycling or disposal sites.

Builders will have to contract with a truck company, which will not be paid until its truck has reached the designated site.

Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman says the law, if passed, would help create “an advanced waste economy, based on responsibility, promotion of a circular economy, and protection of the environment.”

Welcoming the committee’s approval of the bill, and noting that such legislation has been delayed for 15 years, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel says the dumping of construction waste and excavated earth in open spaces, including in nature reserves, forests, and streams, is one of the worst environmental problems in Israel.

Also applauding the move, but airing reservations, Yaniv Bleicher, CEO of Citizens for Clean Air, vows to push to expand the law to cover more forms of waste after elections take place in the fall. He adds, “In addition, we call for the budgeting and establishment of a national control system that will monitor the movement of transport vehicles in real time.”

He tells The Times of Israel that this is the only way to outwit truck drivers.