Reflection / summary Topic: Solid Waste Management

August 2014

Solid waste a growing problem in Kuwait

KUWAIT: The World Bank has warned Kuwait that it ranks among the highest global producers of solid waste. In a special report prepared for Kuwati, the World Bank noted that Kuwait’s produces 1.4 kg of solid waste per capita daily, reported Al Qabas daily, or around 2 million tons of solid waste generated annually. The prevalent solid waste disposal method in Kuwait is landfill burial. Despite being a small country, there are 18 landfills, of which 14 sites are closed and 4 sites are still in operation. These landfills act as dumpsites, rather than engineered landfills.

The report warned that total land area needed by 2020 as waste dumping sites would reach 5,433 sq kilometers, a potential problem for the tiny emirate. The 2013 World Bank report, along with earlier environmental impact assessments, have warned of the dangers posed by the landfills. They can pose severe public health and environment dangers, including generating toxic gases including methane and carbon dioxide, are locations for pests, fires as well as ground water contamination and other health hazards.

The landfills have also not be divided according to types of waste but instead are filled with all kind of wastes, including municipal wastes, food wastes, industrial wastes, construction and demolition debris as well as 90 percent of Kuwait’s domestic waste. Residential areas in proximity to closed landfills include Qurain, Sulaibiya, Kabd, Jleeb AI Shuyoukh, Yarmouk and Wafra. Expansion of waste dumping sites will hamper development plans, in addition to health concerns related to abandoned landfill sites.

The World Bank report noted that the loss of comfort and a healthy environment near landfills often cause the depreciation of housing in those areas, and called for the need to expedite the creation of waste recycling plants and invest these wastes that preserve environment and create a new source of wealth. The government has plans to build three new recycling plants to help tackle Kuwait’s waste problem. The plants are to be constructed on the BOT (build, operate, transfer) system that is part of the private-public partnership initiative of the government. But a realistic timeframe for the plants’ construction remains unconfirmed.