Lebanon Country Profile on SWM

Supported by :

Country profile on the Solid Waste Management situation in Lebanon (2010)
EN, FR, AR [1.5 Mb]

Country report on the Solid Waste Management in Lebanon (2010)
EN, FR [2.5 Mb]

Population:	4.5 million (2009)
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Generation:	~ 1.57 million tons (2009)
Per Capita MSW Generation:	~ 0.85 - 1.1 Kg/day (urban areas) ~ 0.7 Kg/day (rural areas) weighted average over the country ~ 0.95 Kg/p/d
MSW Generation Growth:	1.65% per year
Medical waste generation:
Infectious waste:	~ 5,040 Tons/year
Hospital non riskwaste:	~ 20,000 Tons/year
Industrial waste:
Industrial (non hazardous):	~ 185,000 Tons/year (most of waste mixed with MSW)
Industrial (hazardous):	~ 3,380 Tons/year (most of waste mixed with MSW)
Hazardous waste (other than industrial hazardous waste):	No data available other than the one stated here above (most of waste mixed with MSW)
Agricultural waste:	No data available

Municipal Waste:
MSW Collection Coverage:	99% in rural areas 100% in urban areas
MSW Final Destination:	9% : Composted (several treatment plants already constructed will be put in operation soon, hence increasing percentage) 8% : Recycled 53% : Landfilled 30% : Open dumped
Number of operational sanitary landfills:	Under construction: None Constructed: 3 Operational: 3
Hazardous and industrial Waste:
Hazardous and industrial Waste:	Number of hazardous landfills or plants (Chemical and physical treatment) Under construction: none Constructed: none Operational: none
Types of disposal and treatments for medical waste:	part of waste (60%) treated by autoclaving and shredding

Variable SWM plans depending on the stakeholder:
- Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategy for Lebanon prepared by the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in 2002;
- Waste Management Plan prepared by the CDR in 2005;
- The National Integrated Strategy for SWM in the country presented by the MoE to the Council of Ministers (CoM) in 2010.

No specific legislative framework dealing directly with SWM
Two decrees address the sector specifically:
- Decree 8735 of 1974 assigning SWM as a municipal responsibility
- Decree 9093 of 2002 providing municipalities with an incentive to host a WM facility
A Draft Law on Integrated Solid Waste Management under the METAP program is still under review

For policy and planning: Numerous government institutions (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, Council for Development and Reconstruction); overlapping responsibilities and unclear lines of authority.
For implementation and operation
- In Beirut, Mount Lebanon and Tripoli: CDR, and to a lesser extent, the MoE and the MoIM.
- In the rest of Lebanon: the municipalities

SWM Financing
- allocation of budget to waste management infrastructure from the CDR;
- allocation of budget from a Municipal Fund;
- international loans and grants;
- proper financing by the Municipalities.
SWM Costs
- Costs of SWM vary greatly in Lebanon.
- In Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon (excluding Jbeil):
  - Cost for collection and transport: about USD 30 / ton
  - Total Cost from collection to disposal: USD 130/ton
- In Zahleh and Tripoli
  - Cost for disposal: USD 20-29 / ton
  - Total Cost from collection to disposal: USD 45-50 / ton
- In some rural areas
  - Cost for collection and transport: USD 10-18 /ton
  - Total Cost from collection to disposal: USD 20-30/ ton

In collection: highly involved
In disposal and treatment: landfilling in Greater Beirut; constructing an anaerobic digestor in Saida, pressing and exporting recyclables (paper, plastics, and glass), recovering materials by Informal and semi-formal private sector…

issue the policy / legal / institutional framework through the issuance of the Law on the ISWM;
develop and issue a specific implementable national policy and strategy;
ensure an efficient and cost effective implementation of private sector participation in the sector (competitive bidding, appropriate types of contracts ensuring possible project financing);
focus on enhanced cost recovery and set the applicable decrees for cost recovery, institutional framework;
ensure capacity development;
enhance public awareness;
ensure the institutional viability of any project in terms of commitment and support at both the national (CoM and Parliament) and local (municipalities) levels;
ensure political commitment in support to locally developed strategies;
follow a “progressive coverage” for SWM schemes, starting with the implementation of a landfill (a prerequisite for any type of treatment) as a temporary phase;
set the mechanism for data management and sharing between the various stakeholders;
establish and support SWM networks, such as SWEEP-Net network;
monitor, in the medium and long term, the future implementation of the strategies, in order to identify the eventual gaps and needed adjustments and improvements.

SWEEP Net