Presidential recycling center inaugurated

Solar panels would be installed on the roof, the grounds would be watered with recycled water and composting would be introduced.

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
peres 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
peres 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
President Shimon Peres took the first step in turning Beit Hanassi into a green building on Sunday, when he dedicated a recycling center for bottles, batteries and paper. ELA recycling company head Nehama Ronen accompanied the president. Peres had declared upon assuming office last summer that he wanted to promote a "green" agenda and set an example by transforming the presidential residence into a green building. He said he would give preference to Israeli technologies that recycled water and waste, and provided solar energy and renewable energy, and would install energy saving systems. Beit Hanassi spokeswoman Ayelet Frish told The Jerusalem Post the company that won the tender to turn Beit Hanassi green two weeks ago was surveying the building and grounds and would present its findings to the president soon. Frish said solar panels would be installed on the roof, the grounds would be watered with recycled water and composting would be introduced. She said that, to her knowledge, "this is the first time in the world that a 'White House' would be turned into a 'Green House.'" Ronen told Peres during their meeting Sunday that since its inception in 2001, ELA had collected close to two billion bottles. The company operates in more than 2,000 schools and educational institutions, including haredi ones, Ronen added. The company launched a campaign two months ago to encourage the public to recycle, Ronen said, and that 80 percent more bottles were collected in January 2008 than in January 2007.