Waste-burial sites drive Iraq’s Baghdad pollution spike

Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq has opened 380 legal cases over pollution violations this year, with authorities warning that Baghdad’s waste-burial sites are now a major driver of the capital’s toxic air.

The ministry’s Media and Relations Department Director, Muqdad Miri, told Shafaq News correspondent at a press conference that “environmental lawsuits have already been filed against several ministries and state institutions over the issue,” adding that proper waste-processing and recycling plants remain the only effective solution.

“380 legal cases are currently before the courts against violating public and private activities, with authorities issuing warnings and closures for 121 non-compliant facilities and notifying operators of waste-burial sites in Al-Rashid, Al-Bawaba, Al-Taji, Abu Ghraib, Al-Bayaa, and Al-Mahmoudiya.”

Miri added that from January 1 to November 30, 2025, inspection teams conducted 6,136 checks and shutdowns involving brick factories, illegal kilns, unlicensed operations, and other violators in Baghdad and the other provinces.

Baghdad generates nearly 10,000 tons of waste each day, yet most of it ends up in unregulated landfills that fall far below environmental standards. Years of uncontrolled burning, limited recycling capacity, and stalled waste-to-energy projects have left the capital struggling with rising pollution, toxic emissions, and mounting public-health risks.

Read more: Baghdad drowning in waste: A growing environmental and economic crisis