Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Around 40 percent of recycling units in Iran are shut down.
Vali Gholami Najafabadi, chairman of the Iranian recycling industries union, said that some other recycling units are semi-operating, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Jan. 17.
He noted that 1.5 million people are working in the country's recycling industries.
"We should develop the recycling industry for the sake of preserving the environment," he added.
"For instance, the recycling industry is exempted from paying taxes in the U.S." Moreover, zero-interest loans are granted to recycling industries, he said.
Tehran's garbage amounts to approximately 70 percent of the total waste produced in Iran.
Gathering the garbage in Iran's capital city of Tehran annually costs about $150 million, head of Tehran City Council Health Committee Rahmatollah Hafezi said in last November.
Per capita garbage production in Iran's capital is approximately 820 grams/day.
The municipality of Tehran is responsible for the waste management of the city, the waste is mainly landfilled in three centers in Tehran, with a small part of it usually recycled or processed as compost.
Mohammad Fayyaz, Managing Director of Waste Management Organization of Tehran, said that 5 percent of Tehran wastes are valuable, 45 percent should be wasted and 50 percent could be converted into compost.