Overview

At present, all collection, transport, and disposal of waste is provided by the Local Authorities. In each town there is a collection team and fleet that pass to collect waste directly at certain times of the day. Additionally, there are dumpsites distributed in various locations in the town, which are located in different locations randomly.

The fuel crisis and the interruption of workers’ salaries negatively affected the removal of waste and caused a delay in its removal in some areas, in addition to the lack of equipment and waste collection vehicles that were not sufficiently available even before the conflict, as the rate of waste removal from various cities was around 65% and 5% in rural areas, but with the outbreak of conflict, 45% of vehicles were looted and destroyed, in addition to the great pressure on some cities due to internally displaced people.

At present, a few large Yemeni cities have planned landfills, but otherwise open dumping is the usual form of waste disposal in the cases where the waste is collected.

Approximately 60% of household waste is not removed, and a large percentage of these piles are piled up on the streets of cities and valley drains in some areas, as happens in Al-Mahra, where waste poses a danger with rainfall, as the torrents flowing in the rainy season wash away waste accumulates in the outfalls, obstructing the flow of water, and ends up flooding the valley and causing damage to neighbouring farms and homes.

Official waste collection sites were a problem even before the conflict. The number of official landfills does not exceed twenty-one, only 6 of which are subject to supervision, while the remaining landfills are open. Most of the waste is not buried in landfills, which poses a major environmental and health threat and greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. On the other hand, leaching resulting from waste seeps through the ground layers to find its way into the groundwater reserve, the main source of water in Yemen, in addition to the rise in the possibility of landslides, especially with rainfall.

In each large city in Yemen there is a landfill which is managed by the Local Authorities. Some of the landfills are detailed here. In Sana’a city there is one landfill in Alzraqain. In Ibb city there is one landfill in Alsahoul. In Taiz city there are 2 landfills, one in Alqaidah and one in Mafrq Shara’ab. In Dhamar there is on landfill. In Albaidah there is one landfill. In Hodeida there are two landfills in Alsaleef and Zabid. In Aden there are two landfills, one temporary in Alhisuah and the main landfill in Bair Alna’amah. In Mukalla there is one landfill. In Sayoun there is one landfill.

The drawbacks to majority of dumpsites throughout Yemen include the following problems:

• The dumpsite location was selected without consideration of the hydrogeological or topographical suitability of the site.
• No preparatory works or site engineering has been done on the dumpsites.
• There is no access control, no permanent staff for site management and no landfill machinery assigned to the site.
• Soil or sand cover is not used and the placement of the waste in the landfill is not planned and not methodical.
• There is often air pollution from fires on the dumpsites.

National legislation and laws:

• Law No. 20 of 1999: Establishment of the City Cleaning and Development Fund and the following amendments: Collection and management of revenues to provide solid waste management services.
• Law No. 26 of 1995 Environmental Protection Law: defines waste, hazardous waste, dealing with hazardous waste, and harmful environmental activities, including pollution crimes.
• Law No. 39 of 1999 Public Cleanliness Law: defines roles, responsibilities, and methods of dealing with several types of waste.
• Law No. (16) of 2004 regarding protecting the marine environment from pollution.

The government body responsible for waste management is the City Cleaning and Improving Fund which is administrated by Ministry of Local Administration. For each major city in Yemen there is a cleaning and improving fund, any cleaning and improving fund for any new city should be approved by the Council of Ministers.

Sana’a Municipality Cleaning and Improving Fund contact details:

Call Centre: 8000072

Telephone: +967 775891761 or +967 779066600

The recycling industry is new to Yemen and began with recycling plastic, metals, and glass. There are recycling plants scattered around the country in major cities like Sana’a, Taiz, Aden and Hodeidah.

The process begins with the street cleaners and rubbish collectors who gather plastic, metal and other waste from streets, homes and other places and then sell them to waste yard owners. These junkyard owners then sell the recyclable materials to larger merchants, who sell them to factories for recycling.

There are more than fifty registered recycling plants across Yemen. They receive recyclable materials through an informal network of waste brokers and scrap buying shops.

The following chart identifies the types of wastes in Yemen.

Hazardous Waste Disposal

In Yemen there is no presence of waste disposal for each type of hazardous wastes especially the e-waste, appliances, air conditioners, refrigerators, and oils. However, in this section, we will consider the waste disposal of medical waste.

Lubricants are collected from the workshops and reused in cement factories and clay breaks sites.  Currently, there are four recycling factories in Yemen for batteries as well as batteries collected dried and exported.

Hazardous medical waste is produced from sources that are contaminated or potentially contaminated with infectious, chemical, or radioactive agents. The percentage of the total medical waste is 15-25% of medical waste, as it poses a danger to the individual, society, and the environment during its collection, storage, transportation, or disposal.

Medical waste cycle within health facilities

1. Sorting the types of waste at the source of their generation is a scientific process that takes place so that each type of waste can be kept separate from the other.
2. Collection from its source.
3. Internal transportation within the facility.
4. Internal storage
5. Treatment inside the facility or outside in the medical waste disposal facility.
6. Transportation of waste from the facility to the treatment station or landfill for treated waste.

Medical Waste Disposal Methods:

1. Autoclave: Wet thermal steam disinfection involves sterilizing shredded infectious waste with steam at elevated temperature and pressure. This process inactivates most types of germs if the temperature and contact time are sufficient. Bacterial spores need a temperature of at least 121°C to kill them, as it is expected that the activity of 99.99% of germs will be inhibited at this temperature.
2. Microwave: Microwave sterilization is considered the third most widely used medical waste treatment technology in the world, as it uses ultrashort waves instead of steam for heating. It destroys most germs under the influence of microwave waves with a frequency of 2450 MHz and a wavelength of 12.24 cm. The water inside the waste is quickly heated by microwave waves, and the infectious components are destroyed by thermal conduction. They are exposed to the waves for 20 minutes, after that the waste is compressed and placed inside drums and sent to the landfill.
3. Encapsulation: which includes filling containers with waste, adding a retarding agent, and closing the containers tightly. This process is used either in boxes made of high-density polyethylene or metal drums that are filled to three-quarters of their volume with the sharp tools and leftover chemicals or pharmaceuticals. The boxes or barrels are then filled with an intermediate material such as plastic foam, sand, cement mortar, or clay material. After the intermediate material dries, the containers are tightly closed and disposed in the landfill sites.
4. Landfill: The process of burying waste containing organic materials leads to the decomposition of microbes and microorganisms, both aerobically and anaerobically, due to the availability of organic matter and liquids in the waste. The afore mentioned decomposition process takes place over months and years depending on temperatures and the availability of air and water. Medical waste that has been previously shredded, covered, or treated with sterilization can be disposed of in landfills.
5. Incineration: It is a process of dry oxidation under elevated temperature that reduces organic and permeable wastes into inorganic, incombustible materials and leads to a significant reduction in the volume and weight of the waste. This method is chosen to treat waste that cannot be recycled, reused, or disposed of at the landfill site.

Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal

Waste is collected from its source from houses, shops, companies, and factories. Waste trucks passed every day to collect waste as well as there are dumpsites located in various places randomly. Waste transported to the landfills for disposal either by burning it or burying it under ground.

Some items collected by rubbish collectors for recycling. Those items are plastic and metal which then sold to the small traders who then sell them to the exporters or large traders who process them and reuse them in producing new products such as electrical and wastewater pipes.

Yemen has sixteen sewage treatment plants (STPs) that are functional and nine under construction. The data in Table 1 indicate that the actual flow rate (m3/d) of STPs in the capital city of Yemen (Sana’a) is more than the design flow rate which negatively affects the efficiency of treatment plants. In comparison, the STP in Taiz was designed with a capacity of 17,000 m3/d but the plant receives more than 25,000 m3/d.

It has been reported that 9% of the STPs treat sewage from the primary to the secondary stage with activated sludge using Imhoff tanks. In contrast, 68% depend only on stabilization ponds which represent the main problem in Yemen since stabilization ponds are designed as a primary treatment process which has extremely low capacity to reduce pathogens in sewage. Furthermore, the total capacity of the STPs in Yemen range between 230,388 m3/d and 239,388 m3/d, while the total quantity of sewage generated was 277,777.8 m3/d from 1.7 million people (representing 7% of the total population which is 24.5 million)

Process of Sewage Treatment Plants in Yemen

List of wastewater treatment plants in Yemen

One of the limitations which reduces the efficiency of STPs in Yemen is the absence of energy required for operating wastewater and sewage treatment plants. Consequently, the segregation or separation of black water from greywater is an option for increasing the efficiency of STPs and minimizing the health risks associated with wastes in Yemen.

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