What is Green Waste and Bulky Waste?
Green waste includes branches, trunks, and pruned trees from private gardens, groves, street trees, or agricultural residues.
Bulky waste includes large items such as furniture, mattresses, and electrical appliances that cannot be collected through regular municipal services.
In Israel, it is illegal to landfill unchipped green waste, and burning green waste is prohibited.
At Hiriya Recycling Park, a dedicated facility handles approximately 400 tons of green and bulky waste daily, collected by crane trucks operating across cities.
Waste Treatment Process
Stage 1 – Initial Sorting
The contents of the trucks are unloaded in a dedicated area, where manual sorting takes place:
- Metals, cardboard, and plastics are separated and sent to recycling facilities.
- Dry bulky waste is separated and sent for regulated landfill disposal.
Stage 2 – Timber Utilization
Tree trunks and large branches are sorted, and those with commercial value are sold as raw material for industry.
Stage 3 – Chipping
Raw green waste (branches and trunks) is shredded into wood chips, which can be used in a variety of applications.
Main Uses of Wood Chips
- Compost production – provides dry organic material, allowing oxygen penetration to improve decomposition.
- Sludge stabilization – used as a stabilizing material in wastewater treatment plants.
- Ground cover – an aesthetic and water-saving solution that reduces weed growth, decreases pesticide use, and enriches the soil with organic matter.
- Energy production – wood chips serve as a renewable fuel, replacing polluting fossil fuels.