Hiriya
Encyclopedia
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
dump located southeast of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
History
Hiriya takes its name from the pre-1948 ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
village of al-Khayriyya
Al-Khayriyya
Al-Khayriyya was a Palestinian village located 7.5 kilometers east of Jaffa. Its inhabitants fled as a result of a military assault by the Alexandroni Brigade of the pre-state Israeli forces in the lead up to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.-History:...
, which was built on the site of the ancient biblical town of Beneberak
Beneberak
Benebarak was a biblical city mentioned in the Book of Joshua. According to the biblical account it was allocated to the Tribe of Dan....
.
Earmarked as a dump in 1952, it grew to be more than half a mile long and over 87 meters above sea level. It is visible on approach into Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
as a flat-topped mountain. The volume of waste was estimated at 16 million cubic meters. In 1998, as the public became more aware of the hazards of pollutants, underground water contamination, and dangerous noxious gasses, Hiriya ceased functioning as a waste landfill.
Waste transfer
Hiriya currently houses the largest waste transfer station in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Three recycling plants operate at the foot of the mound, grinding building waste into gravel and dry organic matter into mulch, and a patented mechanical biological treatment
Mechanical biological treatment
A mechanical biological treatment system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion...
demonstration facility where municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste , commonly known as trash or garbage , refuse or rubbish is a waste type consisting of everyday items we consume and discard. It predominantly includes food wastes, yard wastes, containers and product packaging, and other miscellaneous inorganic wastes from residential,...
is sorted utilising the properties of water. The facility is a form of materials recovery facility
Materials recovery facility
A materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility or materials recycling facility is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers...
incluing upflow anaerobic sludge blanket digesters
Anaerobic digestion
Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. It is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to release energy....
for the provision of biogas
Biogas
Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas...
which is in turn used to generate renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
utilising gas engine
Gas engine
A gas engine means an engine running on a gas, such as coal gas, producer gas biogas, landfill gas, or natural gas. In the UK, the term is unambiguous...
s.
Garden waste is also sorted. Tree trunks are sent to the Hiriya carpentry shop to be recycled into wooden furniture such as benches and garden accessories for use in the park being planned for the site. Sixty gas wells have been drilled at the site to collect the methane gas trapped in the landfill. The plant generates all the electricity required by the Hiriya site and sells the excess to the Israel Electric Corporation.
Ariel Sharon Park
Plans have been drawn up to remediate the site and use the mountain and surrounding land as the centerpiece of Ariel Sharon Park (formerly Ayalon Park). A 2000 acres (8.1 km²) area was demarcated for the park during the term of Ariel SharonAriel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
, who was an avid supporter of the project. The planner is landscape architect and urban planner Peter Latz
Peter Latz
Peter Latz is a German landscape architect and a professor for landscape architecture at the Technical University of Munich. He is best known for his emphasis on reclamation and conversion of former industrialized landscapes...
. The park was later named after Sharon.
See also
- List of solid waste treatment technologies
- List of villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war
- Mechanical biological treatmentMechanical biological treatmentA mechanical biological treatment system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion...
- Ramat HovavRamat HovavRamat Hovav is an industrial zone in southern Israel and the site of Israel's main hazardous waste disposal facility. Ramat Hovav Industrial Zone is the locus of 19 chemical factories, including Makhteshim Agan, a pesticide plant; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, a pharmaceuticals plant; Israel...