Solid Waste Generation and Collection in Jordan

By: Basem Abusneineh, Operations Manager at Bee'ah UAE.

Waste management is a global concern nowadays. The challenges are increasing in the developing countries due to the lack of proper waste management. Most countries in the Middle East, including Jordan, are trying to improve their waste management systems with the fast increment in population.

Municipal solid waste generated in Jordan was more than 2 million tons as in 2015. With the latest census, it was found that the solid waste generated per capita is 0.99 Kg per day in the urban areas and 0.87 kg per day in the rural areas. While population is expected to double in the coming two decades, rate of the solid waste generation will double as well.

The high generation of solid waste in Jordan has affected the whole waste management cycle. Collection, for instance, became a great challenge especially in the highly populated areas. However, about 90% of waste generated in Jordan is collected from the urban areas and 70% is collected from the rural areas. In most of the areas, collection is done once daily. More strategies must be applied to overcome this issue and to reach the 100% collection rate in the nearest future.

Jordan has a long way to go until reaching the desired integrated waste management system. Nevertheless, it is moving in the right direction and the coming few years are promising in this field.

Figure: Actual and estimated amount of solid waste generation in Jordan