Waste reduction final report -4 - Test Input

Nationwide there are about 2000 abandoned quarries. Many of them have become illegal
construction waste dumps creating further environmental hazards including the polluting of
ground water sources. In 1978 the Quarries Rehabilitation Fund was set up, with a joint
ministerial management committee including representatives from the Ministries of National
Infrastructures, Environmental Protection, Finance, Interior, Industry and Commerce as well
as from the National Parks and Nature Authority and Israel Land Authority.
Over 200 rehabilitation projects have been completed and some 50 projects are ongoing.
Initial rehabilitation includes eliminating health and safety hazards as well as removing junk
and garbage. Thereafter detailed rehabilitation plans are prepared for various new uses for the
quarries such as for industrial areas, public parks, water reservoirs and cemeteries.
A recently approved plan includes the rehabilitation of the Bareket Quarry as a cemetery for
the Dan Metropolitan Area, solving an acute need for a new large-scale cemetery in the
centre of the country. The plan was commissioned by the Israel Land authority and designed
by Ponger-Sagiv Architects. The quarry with an area of 300 dunams and a depth of some 50
meters, will house 270,000 burial crypts and graves, thereby becoming the largest cemetery
of its kind in Israel. It will supply burial demand for about 30 years and will spare other
valuable lands for nature reserves and other uses. Crushed demolition waste will be used
extensively as infill. In an adjacent quarry a plant was set up for crushing and treating
construction waste with an annual capacity of 150,000 tons.
Model of the Bareket cemetery. Photo source: www.green-dense-burial.com
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(19) The Quarries Rehabilitation Fund website www.mine-rec.mni.gov.il
(20) The author of this report was part of the design team of Ponger-Sagiv architects, including this project.
Ecological Community Gardens
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