Solid waste management is a challenging issue for the Sultanate of Oman because of limited land availability and adverse impacts on environment and public health. With population of almost 3.9 million inhabitants, Oman generates more than 1.7 million tons of solid waste each year. The average per capita waste generation is more than 1.2 kg per day, which is equivalent to about 4700 tons of municipal waste every day.
Solid waste in Oman is characterized by very high percentage of recyclables, primarily paper and cardboard (15%), plastics (20.9%), metals (1.8%) and glass (4%) (Source: Waste Characterization and Quantification Survey, Be’ah, 2013).
However the country is yet to realize the recycling potential of its municipal waste stream. Most of the solid waste is sent to authorized and unauthorized dumpsites for disposal which is creating environment and health issues. There are several dumpsites which are located in the midst of residential areas or close to catchment areas of private and public drinking water bodies.
Solid waste management scenario in Oman is marked by lack of collection and disposal facilities as well as lack of public awareness. Solid waste, industrial waste, e-wastes etc are deposited in scores of landfills scattered across the country. Oman has around 350 landfills/dumpsites which are managed by municipalities. In addition, there are numerous unauthorized dumpsites in Oman where all sorts of wastes are recklessly dumped.
Al Amerat landfill is the first engineered sanitary landfill in Oman which began its operations in early 2011. The landfill site, spread over an area of 9.1 hectares, consists of 5 cells with a total capacity of 10 million m3 of solid waste. Each cell has 16 shafts to take care of leachate. All the shafts are interconnected in order to facilitate movement of leachate to the leachate pump.
The project is part of the government’s initiatives to tackle solid waste in a scientific and environment-friendly manner. Being the first of its kind, Al Amerat sanitary landfill is expected to be an example for the future solid waste management projects in the country.
Future Planning
Solid waste management is among the top priorities of Oman government which has chalked out a robust strategy to resolve waste management problem in the Sultanate. The country is striving to establish engineered landfills, waste transfer stations, recycling and waste-to-energy projects in different parts of the country.
Modern solid waste management facilities are under planning in several wilayat, especially Muscat and Salalah. The new landfills will eventually pave the way for closure of authorized and unauthorized garbage dumps around the country.
Municipal solid waste in Oman is characterized by high percentage of recyclables
The state-owned Oman Environment Services Holding Company, now known as Be’ah, which is responsible for waste management projects in Oman, has recently started the tendering process for important projects. Be’ah has launched its waste management strategy and has awarded numerous tenders, while a host of other tenders are under evaluation or bidding phase.
Be’ah has invited tenders from specialised companies for engineered landfills, material recovery facilities, waste transfer stations and waste management services in the upcoming Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD), among others. Among the top priorities is that development of Barka engineered landfill as the existing Barka waste disposal site, which serve entire wilayat and other neighbouring wilayats in south Batinah governorate, is plagued by environmental and public health issues.
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Nice read! Solid waste management is one of the important aspects in order to make our surrounding environment pollution free. Every year a lot of waste is produces including gaseous waste, liquid waste, and solid waste which need to be reused or recycled. Most of the wastes are highly hazardous and can pollute the surrounding environment so it is essential to handle these wastes appropriately.
Informative and enterprising…
Great read, providing your source of the data you collect would be helpful for future readers and/or researchers
thanks for this insightful analysis. Would be interested to know if there are any methanation project in Oman or surrounding countries. Cyril Rollinde.
The extent that I know through my researches, there are a few “studies” and tenders in KSA and Bahrain, in addition, if I recall this effectively, there was an agreement within The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of Gulf Secretariat General which demonstrates that Oman ought to or will concentrate on the execution of Waste-to-Energy innovation (Excuse my failure to provide the link)
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Thank you very much for this useful information… It helped me a lot in completing a report I was working on.
Dear Zeynep
Glad to know that the article was useful in your project. Hope you liked our website.
Best wishes
Salman Zafar
Founder, EcoMENA
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Dear Jeoffrey
Thanks for your comment on my article.
An email has been sent to you.
Best wishes
Salman Zafar
Founder, EcoMENA
http://www.ecomena.org
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Thanks good article @Salman Zafar
The problem of solid waste management is a very serious n thought provoking subject n especially it a most dangerous problem for the developing countries where the govts are always short of funds n absence of political will n lack of sense in the about environment n pollution. Whatever steps are taken are not transparent n are just as wash or cosmetic efforts t solve the problem. The govts n people therefore must sense the gravity of the n take serious, practical n specialized steps to solve slid waste Management Systems of their countries to tackle the impending problems of environment, ecology n climate change n another serious problem depleting sweet water. For resilient policies to tackle change crises the govts should govts should develop hundred percent energy from renewable resources.