Pollution Research Paper

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND COSTS OF DEGRADATION AND REMEDIATION OF SOLID WASTE IN THE URBAN COMMUNITY OFFES (MOROCCO)

B. ANTOUH, K. ZEIN AND M. EL QANDIL

Abstract

Fes, millennium spiritual capital of the kingdom of the Cherifian, suffers from degradations of the environment. Some elements of these degradations are, indeed, listed and punctual solutions have been put in place by the authorities of the city. But no integrated analysis of the environmental situation has been undertaken until now. The present study represents the first analysis by quantifying damages and inefficiencies in waste management. It is part of the general context of the Meso-economic-environmental assessment of the city of Fez. What the presented analysis in this article brings as a new thing, is a quantification of the damages and inefficiencies at the level of waste management of the city of Fez in economic terms, by combination of environmental and financial data. An estimate of adequate remediation investments to mitigate the degradation is proposed. Finally, the study proposes profit / cost ratios as a decision support tool. This method is based on the use of economic methods for environmental assessments, converting collected physical units into monetary units. The present study, while considering the remarkable efforts of the city in the field of waste management, appears the efforts that still to be made in the field of waste management. Thus, the cost of damage and inefficiencies is evaluated at 2.76% of added value (VA). The actions of remediation recommended are 0.7% of the VA of this urban community.The result is a benefit / cost ratio of 3.95, underlining the need for decision makers to review their strategy in this field while strengthening the gains. In sum, the Meso-Economic-Environmental Assessment is a new approach that allows not only to quantify the impacts and the identification of the most appropriate of the actions of remediation, but also to make available to the decision makers a scientific aid for taking decision to combine urban development, respect of environment and the well-being of the population.