The deputy minister toured the city, visited the NAAMAT preschools and was hosted by Mayor Nahum Hofree in his office.  She also met with municipal officials and city council members.  During her visit, she was presented the program for separating garbage at source, which the municipality is currently promoting.

Raanana is one of the first cities in Israel to launch a municipal project to separate garbage at source (at residents’ homes), which constitutes a quantum leap in the city’s extensive recycling efforts.  The total cost of this step at this stage is NIS 12 million, where NIS 7.7 million comes from funding by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The project was launched last month during Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Ardan’s visit to Raanana.

Another project in the field of sustainability that was presented to the deputy minister is related to the city council’s decision to implement the Green Construction Standard (Israel Standard Institute – 5281) in Raanana.  From the first of June, only developers and contractors who meet the Green Construction Standard will be approved for new construction.  This means that all building plans submitted to the Local Committee for Planning and Construction for a new residential or office building, must meet this standard, as part of the mayor’s vision for maximal environmental protection.

Mayor Nahum Hofree: “As part of the deputy mayor’s responsibilities, she is in charge of standardization, and she has asked the municipality to evaluate the costs necessary to assess the suitability of construction plans to the Green Construction Standard of the Israel Standards Institute.  In order to encourage the implementation of the standard, we have recommended considering the possibility of making this voluntary standard mandatory in Israel.”

In the photo:  Mayor Nahum Hofree and Deputy Minister Orit Noked in his office.  Photographer:  Motti Ben Aroya.