TEHRAN – Two pilot programs for community-based waste management are being implemented in two villages of Mazandaran province to reduce the accumulation of waste in the Hyrcanian Forests, also known as Caspian Forest.

According to UNESCO, the Hyrcanian Forests in the northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan are between 25 and 50 million years old.

The forests contain the most significant natural habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the perspective of science or conservation.

It also contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

In July 2019, Hyrcanian Forests was named a UNESCO World Heritage during the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Burying waste in the northern provinces of the country, due to the proximity to the sea and the existence of many underground rivers and aquifers, is almost impossible.

The problem has endangered not only the health of the forests but also the health of the residents living in their surroundings, also.

Therefore, the Department of Environment in cooperation with two non-governmental organizations, has launched two pilot programs for community-based waste management in two villages, which have resulted in a 70 percent reduction in landfilling.

Wet waste is turned into compost in a field around the village, and dry waste is collected as people hand them and receive goods in return.

Marine waste management

On September 30, a comprehensive marine environment monitoring program for the country was designed, said an official with the Department of Environment.

“The program includes both biological and pollution monitoring for the Persian Gulf, the Oman Sea, as well as the Caspian Sea,” ISNA quoted Omid Seddiqi, the DOE official, as saying. 

“The comprehensive program for monitoring the pollution of the Caspian Sea has made further progress and its fund has been provided. It will begin in late autumn with the help of an ocean-going vessel,” he explained.

This program will probably start in autumn or early winter in the south of the country with the help of the Persian Gulf probe ship.

Marine plastic pollution impacts

Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year. If discarded improperly, plastic waste can harm the environment and biodiversity.

At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Plastic debris is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean.

Most sources of plastic debris found in the ocean are land-based. Plastic pollution is a widespread problem affecting the marine environment.

It threatens ocean health, the health of marine species, food safety & quality, human health, and coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.

The most visible impacts of plastic debris are ingestion, suffocation, and entanglement of hundreds of marine species.

Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish, and turtles mistake them for prey and die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic. They suffer lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries.

Also, when marine organisms ingest plastic debris, these contaminants between marine species and humans through the consumption of seafood have been identified as a health hazard and research is ongoing.

Mismanagement of waste

Today, one of the most important environmental problems in the country is the mismanagement of waste, which incurs a loss of 448 trillion rials (nearly $896 m) annually.

Annually, more than 61 million tons of various types of waste are produced in Iran, according to the DOE, an estimated 10 to 17 percent of the total produced waste is recycled. While in developed countries this number reaches up to 70 percent.

In 2021, Iran ranked 17th in terms of waste production, according to the World Population Review.

Although there will be pollution as long as there is consumption in any way, it can be kept to an acceptable level by considering green options so as not to cause excessive pollution of the environment.

Some 45,000 tons of waste are produced in urban areas and 10,000 tons in rural areas and the average per capita waste production per person is 760 grams in cities and 485 grams in villages. Some 65 percent of waste is "wet" and 35 percent is "dry", while 25 percent is processed and the remaining 75 percent without processing is buried directly and only 10 percent is separated at the source.

The average per capita waste produced in Tehran is 320 kg. On the other hand, while the per capita waste production in the world is about 110 kilograms per year and the per capita daily production is 250 to 300 grams, this figure is 600 grams in Iran and 1200 grams in the north of Tehran.

Every Iranian consumes an average of three plastic bags daily, and the average life of each bag is only 12 minutes, while it remains in nature for hundreds of years. In addition to this, disposable plastic containers, plastic tablecloths, plastic packaging, etc., have been produced in large quantities in the country, which has been used a lot due to the change in people’s lifestyles in recent decades and have put double pressure on the environment.

Also, the abundance of plastic bags is of great importance in the waste segregation at the source and their recycling. According to global statistics, Iran is among the top 20 countries in the world in producing plastic waste. Some 4 million tons of plastic waste are produced annually, of which half a million tons are related to plastic bags. In Iran, over 1 million tons of plastic bags are produced annually, 96 percent of which go directly into the trash.

Considering the high rate of waste produced in the country and its harmful effects on human health and the environment, it seems that the revision of waste management is very important. One of the ways that many countries have taken to reduce waste production is "zero waste".

"Zero waste" is a kind of lifestyle in which a person decides to take full responsibility for the waste they produce during the day and night, and also tries to bring the production of waste closer to zero.

In the zero-waste lifestyle, people try to avoid luxurious life as much as possible at the beginning. In the next step, people with this lifestyle try not to produce waste. When the generation of waste is unavoidable, people regularly and carefully separate the waste properly.

We humans can never achieve the zero waste goal. It is only the name of a lifestyle, but if the conditions of the society and infrastructure are available, we can only approach it.

MT/MG