Lebanon

Country Data

Lebanon has a population of 4.4 million people (in 2001) that produces 1,380,000 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) per year.  The composition of MSW is highly organic (63%) while the remaining (37%) is constituted of paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metals and others. MSW generation varies between 0.5 to 0.7 kg/p/d in rural areas and 0.75 to 1.1 kg/p/d in urban areas.  Almost all of the MSW generated in Lebanon is collected by public or private haulers; however, management varies from one area to another: 8% is recycled, 8 % is composted, 46% is landfilled and 37% is disposed of in open dumps. 

In the absence of a Solid Waste Management (SWM) strategy for the country, the SWM sector is marked by extremes: in Greater Beirut, a SWM system has been developed (Emergency Plan - US$ 63 million per year) that is technically advanced.  However, the system involves multiple handling of wastes and cost structures that make it expensive to the point that municipalities that participate in the system are being starved of funds for other municipal services.  Outside Greater Beirut, and apart from an attempt by a World Bank financed project (Solid Waste Environmental Management Project - SWEMP - originally US$55 million, and which closed at the end of 2003), waste management systems are generally characterized by rudimentary "collect and dump" approaches. 

Although there are many legal instruments that bear on SWM, there are only two decrees that address the sector specifically: one assigns solid waste management as a municipal responsibility, while the other provides municipalities with an incentive to host a waste management facility. The remaining elements of the legal framework either provide authority for entities to act with respect to municipal solid waste, or address other types of waste.

At the national level, three institutions have responsibilities in SWM.  The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) is responsible for municipalities and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) is responsible for establishing and monitoring environmental standards and for developing solid waste management strategy.  At the sub-national level, municipalities are responsible for implementation of waste management operations.  However, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) has been responsible for implementing an Emergency Waste Management Plan in the Greater Beirut area, and has developed proposals for the upgrading of waste management elsewhere in the country. The Government of Lebanon has formed a committee (represented by the MoE, MoIM, CDR and Directorate General of Urban Planning (DGUP)) is currently coordinating an initiative that will result in regionalised delivery of waste management services at either the mohafaza or caza levels if it is carried through to completion  It has been announced that the provision of waste management services, including waste collection, sorting, treatment and transfer facilities and construction of landfills, will be tendered out through an international bidding process in 2004.

Financing of waste management infrastructure is achieved through three mechanisms: (i) allocation of budget to waste management infrastructure from the CDR; (ii) allocation of budget from a Municipal Fund through which government distributes monies to municipalities to meet capital and recurrent cost requirements; and (iii) international loans and grants.

Public participation and public awareness in support of solid waste management is weak in Lebanon.  It has lately been introduced as a component during the preparation of EIAs for locating landfill sites in projects financed by the World Bank, the European Union or other donor agencies, and in support of some waste management operations. 

A wide range of management skills and suitably trained staff are required at both the national and the municipal level.  In particular, capacity development in contracting the private sector and managing private sector contracts, enhanced knowledge of the various technologies that might be applied to waste management, and training in computer use for waste management purposes are required at both the national and municipal levels.

With respect to policy/legal/institutional issues, focus at the national level should be on preparation of SWM legal frameworks, and at the municipal level focus should be placed on knowledge and application of the legal framework, and on enforcement and monitoring.

For more details please consult the attached country report [...]