West Bank Solid Waste Management Project Highlighted by World Bank
On November 8, 2013, the World Bank featured the West Bank Solid Waste Management project as its front page story on its external website. This project will benefit about one-third of the population of the West Bank (approximately 800,000 people) and includes a sanitary landfill, as well as some small-scale recycling and composting. The centralization of the waste disposal and the expected increase in the quality of collection will have both environmental and health benefits, as several of the small scattered dump sites where trash was burned or left out in the open have been closed. One unique aspect of this project is a type of transition assistance, as the waste-pickers who depended on and formerly worked at these now-closed dumps have received financial support to launch their own businesses, finish college, or have been provided with an opportunity to work in the new facility.