Rampant corruption, unscientific management, and official neglect have turned Iran’s northern provinces—once the country’s green heart—into vast garbage fields threatening public health and the environment.
Fresh images released by environmental activists in early October have revealed shocking scenes of uncontrolled waste across Iran’s northern provinces, highlighting the full extent of a long-running environmental disaster. Mountains of garbage in cities and villages across Mazandaran, Gilan, and Golestan have made visible what experts call one of the gravest environmental crises in Iran’s modern history.
Toxic Landfills and Poisoned Landscapes
Uncontrolled dumping of urban waste in the Hyrcanian forests, severe air pollution caused by the unregulated incineration plant in Nowshahr, toxic leachate seeping into the forests of Lahijan and Babol’s Bandpey district, and overflowing garbage depots in Aqqala and Azadshahr have brought local ecosystems to the brink of collapse.
What were once lush, livable regions now face polluted air, poisoned rivers, and contaminated soil. Corruption among municipal and regime officials and decades of structural neglect in waste management have transformed the north into an environmental hazard. Experts warn that the consequences could escalate beyond local boundaries, creating a larger climatic and social crisis across the northern belt of Iran.
Daily Life Amid the Stench of Decay
For residents, life has become inseparable from the smell of rotting garbage, polluted air from mazut-burning power plants, and blackened rivers flowing through piles of waste. From tourist highways to remote villages, hills of trash now define the landscape—an emblem of decades of administrative corruption, non-scientific planning, and official disregard for environmental protection.
Official data from Gilan show that the province produces over 2,000 tons of waste daily—a figure that climbs to 3,000 tons during summer months. Much of it ends up in forests, along rivers, or even on farmlands, as none of the existing landfill sites meet sanitary standards. Environmental specialists warn that high groundwater levels make landfill disposal tantamount to injecting poison into underground aquifers.
Sarakhs, Nowshahr, and the Expanding Disaster
One of the most alarming hotspots is the Saravan landfill in Gilan—a massive garbage mountain whose toxic runoff has for years polluted surrounding rivers and forests. Environmental expert Zahra Yazdani wrote in Shargh newspaper that each ton of waste at the site produces more than 400 liters of leachate daily, threatening not only the soil and water but also the lives of local residents.
Saravan is only one of dozens of unsafe dumping sites across northern Iran that have quietly turned into environmental time bombs. Recycling and composting projects remain mostly on paper, and while developed nations have moved toward waste reduction at the source, Iran continues to rely on incinerators and landfills that operate with 1970s technology—often under the control of corrupt contractors.
Public Anger and Social Strain
Public protests against waste dumping have become frequent in northern towns. Residents of Saravan, Kiyasar, and Samskandeh have repeatedly blocked trucks bringing city garbage to their regions. In some places, municipalities have even removed public trash bins to prevent outsiders from dumping their waste locally—an act that reflects growing distrust and social fragmentation caused by years of failed waste management.
In Mazandaran, many landfill sites lie dangerously close to rivers and coastlines, where leachate drains directly into the Caspian Sea. The province produces over 3,000 tons of waste daily, yet despite years of promises, the Sari waste-to-energy power plant remains unfinished.
Environmental and Economic Fallout
The pollution has devastated both coastal and forest ecosystems and now poses a severe threat to the region’s tourism industry. While successive governments have promoted “northern tourism development,” the reality is a landscape dominated by the stench of garbage and rivers blackened by sewage.
Environmental experts argue that the crisis is not merely technical but rooted in the regime’s corrupt and opaque governance structure. Political appointments, lack of oversight, and the persistence of unaccountable contractors have drained public funds while producing no viable solutions.
Even waste-to-energy incinerator projects that were meant to ease the crisis have stalled due to mismanagement. In Nowshahr, the only partially operational facility has become another source of pollution, emitting toxic smoke that has severely degraded the air quality across forested areas.
A Green Heart Turned Gray
The northern provinces—once the “green heart” of Iran—now face the prospect of being buried beneath mountains of garbage. Rivers that once sustained life now carry streams of toxic leachate, and ancient forests are dying under layers of plastic and waste.
Experts warn that without immediate and transparent reform, including independent environmental oversight and accountability for corrupt officials, northern Iran will suffer irreversible ecological damage. For now, the regime continues to ignore the mounting catastrophe, masking a national tragedy with hollow slogans while the country’s most fertile lands slowly disappear under the weight of its own neglect.