LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEBANON

Transcription

1 REGIONAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECT IN MASHREQ AND MAGHREB COUNTRIES NATIONAL ACTIVITY IN LEBANON LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEBANON FIRST REPORT DRAFT VERSION Prepared by ELARD (Lebanon), s.a.r.l. in association with ENVIROTECH (Lebanon) s.a.r.l. and TEBODIN (Hague) Submitted to: THE WORLD BANK AUGUST, 2004

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS... II LIST OF TABLES...V LIST OF FIGURES... VII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...VIII 1. INTRODUCTION THE CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT THE LOCAL CONTEXT THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT OBJECTIVE OF THIS REPORT STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT WORK METHODOLOGY SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEBANON WASTE CHARACTERISTICS MSW QUANTITY MSW COMPOSITION MSW MOISTURE CONTENT INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIES QUANTITY OF INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE GENERATED THE EXISTING LEGISLATION ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW OF THE EXISTING LEGISLATION LEGAL ASPECTS TECHNICAL ASPECT IMPLEMENTATION ASPECT FINANCIAL ASPECT THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS DECISIONS ( ) THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS THE MINISTRIES THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR AND MUNICIPALITIES THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORT THE MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY THE COUNCIL FOR DEVELOPMENT AND RECONSTRUCTION LOCAL AUTHORITIES SECURITY AND JURIDICAL AUTHORITIES SWM POLICIES, PLANS AND PRACTICES IN LEBANON GOVERNMENT PLANS PRIOR TO CIVIL WAR CHAOS DURING CIVIL WAR PRIVATIZATION STRATEGY AND BOT PROJECTS...31 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin ii

3 3.4.4 CURRENT POLICIES AND PLANS FOR SWM IN GBA THE EMERGENCY PLAN FOR SWM IN GBA EMERGENCY PLAN: EXECUTION AND PERFORMANCE MOIM MSW POLICY CURRENT POLICIES AND PLANS FOR SWM OUTSIDE GBA SOLID WASTE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROJECT (SWEMP) MOE-NATIONAL SWM STRATEGY COMMUNITY-BASED SWM PROJECTS FUTURE POLICIES AND STRATEGIES DISTRIBUTION AND STATUS OF MAJOR DUMPSITES REHABILITATION AND OPERATION OF TRIPOLI DUMPSITE CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF ZAHLE LANDFILL ESTIMATED QUANTITY OF MSW GENERATED SINCE FINANCIAL AND COST RECOVERY CONSIDERATIONS OVERVIEW OF THE MACROECONOMIC GOVERNMENT SITUATION OVERVIEW OF THE LEBANESE SOCIOECONOMIC SITUATION CURRENT FUNDING SOURCES FOR SWM SERVICES THE NATIONAL BUDGET REVENUES FOR MUNICIPALITIES, LAW 118 (30,06/77) COLLECTION OF PROPERTY TAXES GRANTS AND LOANS THE FINANCIAL LEGACY OF PAST SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK LAW ON SWM IN LEBANON OVERALL RATIONALE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE LAW CLASSIFICATION OF WASTES WASTE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES WASTE MANAGEMENT PLANNING INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION BASIC PRINCIPLES BEHIND PRIVATIZATION PROPOSED MECHANISM OF PSP IN THE FRAMEWORK LAW FINANCING, COST RECOVERY MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES THE NATIONAL BUDGET TAPPING ON THE VAT REVENUES FOR MUNICIPALITIES, LAW 118 (30/06/77) TAPPING ON AND IMPROVING COLLECTION OF PROPERTY TAXES NEW TAXES OR CHARGES GRANTS AND LOANS LITTERING AND NON-COMPLIANCE FINES INCENTIVES ON-GOING ACTIVITIES...74 REFERENCES...75 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin iii

4 APPENDIX A... MINUTES OF MEETINGS APPENDIX B... FINANCIAL SITUATION OF GOL APPENDIX C... AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS APPENDIX D...DRAFT SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT LAW APPENDIX E... PROPOSED WASTE MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin iv

5 TABLE LIST OF TABLES 3.1. MSW Generation Projection for Summary of AUB and Sukomi Surveys on MSW Composition in Lebanon (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Reported MSW Moisture Content in Lebanon (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Number and Distribution of Industries per Mohafaza Distribution of Industrial Sectors across the Mohafazat (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Non-Municipal Solid Waste Quantities Existing Environmental Legislation Related to Solid Waste Management in Lebanon List and Description of the Council of Ministers Decisions on Solid Waste Management Published from 1997 to date Facilities Needed for the Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA Targets of the GBA Emergency Plan for SWM Main Deficiencies in the Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA, MSW Treatment Costs in the Extended Greater Beirut Area Contract Unit Cost of MSWM System for GBA Total Costs Incurred Since Inception of Emergency Plan in Lebanon (From ) Actual Achievements under SWEMP Projects Co-Financed by USAID Projects Co-Financed by the Life Program (UNDP) Status of the Major Dumpsites in Lebanon Estimation of Total Solid Waste Generation from 1982 to Purchasing Power Percent Changes for Various Classes in Lebanon Family Classification as Percentage of Total Population Population Estimates and Average Household Size Revenue Classification of the Lebanese Government...50 PAGE ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin v

6 3.24. Investment (US$) Requirements to Deal with Open Dumping Old Practices from (and over 10 year period) Summary of Proposed Wastes Management Responsibilities Waste Strategy Vs. Plan Summary of Planning Process Options and Characteristics of Several Contracts Tapping on Property Taxes based on Minimum Wage Complete Summary of the Costs of SWM in Lebanon and Options for Complete Cost Recovery (Mechanism)...72 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin vi

7 FIGURE LIST OF FIGURES 2.1. Basic Methodology for the Preparation of the Waste Management Law MSW Generation in Lebanon per Mohafaza (2004 estimates) Municipal Solid Waste Composition in Lebanon (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Components of Emergency SWM Plan for GBA (1997) Map showing location of major dumpsites, landfills and recycling companies Theoretical Allocation of the IMF Fund to Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities Criteria and Constraints of Significance for the Development of the IWM Law List of Sources of Waste Proposed Waste Classification System Waste Management Policy, Strategy, Plan and Program Process of Waste Management Planning Diagram of Waste Monitoring and Information Management Private Sector Arrangements in Solid Waste Management Public versus Private Goods in Solid Waste Management Diagram of Private Sector Participation...67 PAGE ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin vii

8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AUB BCD BIA BOO BOT CAS CDR CoM DBO DGUP EU GBA GoL IDAL IMF ISWM IWM MoE MoF MoH MoI MoIM MoPWT MSW MU American University of Beirut Beirut Central District Beirut International Airport Build Own and Operate Build Operate and Transfer Central Administration of Statistics Council of Development and Reconstruction Council of Ministers Design Build and Operate Directorate General of Urban Planning European Union Greater Beirut Area Government of Lebanon Investment Development Authority of Lebanon Independent Municipal Fund Integrated Solid Waste Management Integrated Waste Management Ministry of Environment Ministry of Finance Ministry of Health Ministry of Industry Ministry of Interior and Municipalities Ministry of Public Works and Transport Municipal Solid Waste Municipal Union ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin viii

9 NERP PCU PSP SEA SELDAS SME SWEMP SWM UNDP UNEP USAID VAT WTP National Emergency Reconstruction Program Project Coordination Unit Private Sector Participation Strategic Environmental Assessment Strengthening the Environmental Legislation Development and Application System Small and Medium Enterprise Solid Waste Environmental Management Project Solid Waste Management United Nations Development Program United Nations Environment Program United States Agency for International Development Value-Added Tax Willingness to Pay ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin ix

10 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THE CONTEXT OF THE PROJECT The World Bank, as administrator of the METAP program, has mobilized a grant from the Euro-Med SMAP program for the implementation of a Regional Solid Waste Management Project in Mashreq and Maghreb Countries. The overall objective of the project is to promote the adoption of integrated solid waste management (ISWM) in the selected Mediterranean countries, among which Lebanon. The project will provide the necessary tools for designing, developing, and implementing the main elements of ISWM while promoting exchange of information and experiences within the Region in the field of solid waste management (SWM) THE LOCAL CONTEXT The Lebanese Ministry of Environment (MoE) has requested from the World Bank that the national activity in Lebanon be tailored towards the elaboration of a legal framework for ISWM in Lebanon while strengthening the capacities in selecting preferred SWM systems and in negotiating private sector contracts THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT In this context, the objectives of the national activity are to : (1) develop a legal framework that supports the adoption of ISWM; (2) implement training modules at the national and municipal level for the application and enforcement of the legal framework with focus on capacity development in supervision and monitoring contracts; (3) develop an economic model with relevant implementing tools that assist municipal and national entities in selecting preferred SWM and contracting systems such as financing and cost recovery; and (4) assist concerned institutions in selecting and applying one regional guidelines developed by the regional project OBJECTIVE OF THIS REPORT This is the first draft report being submitted to the World Bank presenting the progress of the work. The objective of this report is to describe the existing situation with respect to solid waste management on the technical, legal, institutional and financial fronts (baseline conditions) and present a first draft of the framework law proposed for the Government of Lebanon (GoL) along with the rationale and methodology to develop it STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT The report is structured in four (4) main sections in addition to this introduction. Section 2 provides a very brief description of the work methodology adopted in developing the draft framework law. Section 3 presents the Lebanese baseline conditions with respect to solid waste management, including waste characteristics, legal and institutional frameworks, waste management policies and practices, and financial and cost recovery considerations. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 1

11 Section 4 introduces the proposed framework law explaining the rationale behind its formulation and the key elements of the law. Finally, section 5 describes the on-going activities. 2. WORK METHODOLOGY The development of the integrated waste management law consisted of several steps. First, a detailed research on the current and past status of waste generation and management in the Republic of Lebanon was completed. Next, the existing waste management legal and institutional frameworks were reviewed and evaluated for shortcomings and major gaps. An in-depth study of international laws and regulations on waste followed including that of European Union, Republic of Philippines, Republic of Macedonia, United States of America, United Kingdom, Tunisia, and Algeria among others. The above-mentioned tasks coupled with periodic meetings with stakeholders were followed by the preparation of a draft outline for the waste management law. The draft outline received reviews from local and international legal consultants that continue to participate in the process. Finally, a draft waste management law was prepared and shall be submitted to the stakeholders for the cycle to repeat resulting in a final draft. This process is illustrated in Figure 2.1. In parallel to this activity, the economic model for waste management in Lebanon is being developed and will provide useful inputs for the financing and cost-recovery sections of the proposed Law. Preparation of Waste Management Law Input from stakeholders Input from legal consultants Review of Current & Past Status of Waste Proposal of Outline of Draft Waste Law Review of National Waste Legislation Meetings with Relevant Stakeholders Review of International Waste Legislation Figure 2.1. Basic Methodology for the Preparation of the Waste Management Law ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 2

12 It is noteworthy herein to expand on the contribution of the institutions legally responsible for the management of wastes during the formulation of the Law. In Lebanon, as indicated in the section on the institutional framework (section 3.3), several public agencies and authorities share in this assignment including municipalities, several ministries, the Council of Development and Reconstruction (CDR), the Council of Ministers (CoM), in addition to security and judicial authorities. Therefore, the development of the IWM law relied heavily on collaboration with and input from the relevant stakeholders in the form of meetings and other forms of communication. Besides weekly meetings at the early stage with the MoE to ensure proper coordination with the focal point of the project, at least one meeting was organized with key stakeholders. The recommendations of these various stakeholders were wide-ranging and briefly consisted of the following (refer to Appendix A for detailed Minutes of Meetings): Ministry of Environment (MoE) - Weekly meetings with members of MoE indicated that the priorities of the ministry include the development of a law that regulates municipal solid wastes, as a first priority, and that will be ratified by the CoM. Members of MoE recommended the development of a straightforward uncomplicated law that does not propose radical changes in order to assure the approval by the Government of Lebanon (GoL). Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) - Members of the MoIM conveyed their welcoming of the proposed law, and requested the submittal of a draft proposal in order to review and formally remark on the content. Ministry of Finance (MoF) - Members of the MoF confirmed the need for a law on waste management and emphasized the dedication of their agency for environmental projects. A draft proposal of alternative financing scenarios was requested in order to review and evaluate the alternative financing options and their impact on the National Treasury as well as their feasibility. Council of Development and Reconstruction (CDR) - Similar to other stakeholders, members of the CDR requested the submittal of a draft proposal in order to review and formally remark on the content of the proposed law. Additionally, meetings were held with the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon (IDAL) and Kafalat, a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) financing firm, for insight on possible means and incentives to financing waste management projects and encouraging private sector participation. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 3

13 3. SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN LEBANON 3.1. WASTE CHARACTERISTICS Before embarking onto the long history of the GoL and its attempt to adequately manage solid waste in the country, it is useful to specify the characteristics of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in Lebanon. This stems from the fact that any sound strategy for SWM needs to be based on the characteristics of the wastes to be managed, since these significantly affect the effectiveness and choice of management options. This section addresses also the wastes generated from industries and other sources than households MSW Quantity It is estimated that about 1.5 million tones of MSW in Lebanon were generated in 2004 (about kg/capita/day), or about 4,144 tones per day (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). This figure was estimated using the population projection for 2004 and solid waste generation per Mohafaza. The population projection for 2004 was estimated using Lebanon s annual population growth rate of 1.65% in 1999 and the official population census for the year 1997 from the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS). The solid waste generation per Mohafaza was calculated using per capita generation rate of 1.1 kg/capita/day for Beirut, 0.95 kg/capita/day for South Lebanon and Mount Lebanon, and 0.85 kg/capita/day for the Bekaa, North Lebanon and Nabatiyeh (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). The estimate shows a 5.2 percent increase in solid waste generation compared to the state of solid waste generation projection for the year 2001 (Table 3.1). Mount Lebanon and Beirut account for about 51 percent of the total waste generated in Lebanon (Figure 3.1). Table 3.1. MSW Generation Projection for 2004 Mohafaza Solid Waste Generation Rate (Kg/capita/day) 1 Population (2001) 1 Solid Waste Generation (tones/day) (2001) Population (2004) 2 Solid Waste Generation (tones/day) (2004) Percentage of national MSW generated Beirut , , % Mount Lebanon ,606,383 1,526 1,687,218 1, % North-Lebanon , , % Bekaa , , % South-Lebanon , , % Nabatiyeh , , % Total ,267,564 3,940 4,482,313 4, % 1/ Values adopted from SOER, / values estimated based on population growth rate ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 4

14 MSW generation / Mohafaza 280,320 tones/year 187,245 tones/year 585,460 tones/year 95,630 tones/year 181,405 tones/year 183,230 tones/year Figure 3.1. MSW Generation in Lebanon per Mohafaza (2004 estimates) MSW Composition Several studies were conducted at various times and locations to analyze the waste composition in Lebanon since Some of these studies were conducted at the source, others were preformed at the primary deposit stage and yet others at the processing stage. The studies conducted at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1994 and Sukomi in 1998 came out with slightly different results. Organic waste is by far the largest component of the MSW stream in Lebanon, representing around 63 percent of total MSW quantity in GBA and slightly over 50 percent at the national level (Figure 3.2) (MoE/Ecodit, 2001; UNEP and CEDARE, 2000). Table 3.2 presents the results of the sampling survey conducted by Sukomi in 1998, which covered all of Beirut and its immediate suburbs, parts of the Metn, Kesrwan and the Chouf as well as the results of the AUB study in 1994, which covered regions within GBA and the city of Tripoli. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 5

15 9% 3% 3% 5% 2% Organic Paper and Cardboard Plastic Glass 10% 51% Textiles 17% Metals Construction and Demolition Others Figure 3.2. Municipal Solid Waste Composition in Lebanon (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Table 3.2. Summary of AUB and Sukomi Surveys on MSW Composition in Lebanon (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Components Organic material Paper & cardboard AUB study 1994 Sukomi survey 1998 Summer Winter Annual (%) Summer Winter Annual (%) Plastics Metals Textiles Glass Others The discrepancy between the rates for recyclable materials obtained by the two studies could be due to the fact that the survey conducted by Sukomi reflects the waste sorted at the plant level and might not represent the actual waste generated. In fact, scavengers recover the recyclable material before being collected by Sukleen. In general, both results showed that organic waste has the highest share of waste stream and this percentage increases in the summer months when the consumption of fruits and vegetables is considerably higher in comparison with the winter months. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 6

16 3.1.3 MSW Moisture Content An important waste parameter that affects the effectiveness of treatment technologies is moisture content. Moisture content of MSW usually varies depending on the composition of the waste and weather related factors such as temperature, humidity and precipitation. Previous studies indicate that in Lebanon the moisture content does not vary much between winter and summer seasons, with moisture content reported as 63.2 percent in the summer and 65.3 percent in the winter (UNEP and Cedare, 2000). Table 3.3 presents the range value for MSW moisture contents in middle-income countries and the actual MSW moisture content in Lebanon. Table 3.3. Reported MSW Moisture Content in Lebanon (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Component Range Typical Lebanon Food waste Paper Plastics Metals Glass Overall Industrial Solid Waste Number and Distribution of Industries During , the Ministry of Industry launched an industrial census on the Mohafaza level; the census was later updated in providing targeted information about the industrial sector. Another census of establishments and buildings was conducted by the CAS between 1995 and 1996 on the Caza level. The results from both sources revealed significant disparities regarding the number and distribution of the industrial establishments (Table 3.4). The majority of the industries in Lebanon are light industries, with more than 82 percent located outside industrial zones. While existing industrial zones suffer from weak infrastructure for collection and treatment of industrial waste, this situation is magnified in other zones with many of these industries located between residential areas posing risks and environmental stresses in the regions where they are located. Currently there are 23 industrial sectors in the country (excluding power, water and construction activities). Nearly 89 percent of the total industrial activity belongs to eight major sectors. Table 3.5 presents the distribution of those eight industrial sectors in each Mohafaza. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 7

17 Table 3.4. Number and Distribution of Industries per Mohafaza Percentage of industries per Mohafaza according to Mohafaza CAS ( ) Percentage of national level MoI ( ) Percentage of national level Percentage located outside industrial zone (based on MoI values) Beirut 2,931 10% 2,547 12% 83% Mount Lebanon 12,696 43% 11,011 50% 65% North 6,231 21% 3,865 18% 58% South 2,804 10% 1,641 7% 45% Nabatiyeh 1,517 5% 712 3% 40% Bekaa 3,103 11% 2,250 10% 56% Total 29, % 22, % 82% Table 3.5. Distribution of Industrial Sectors across the Mohafaza (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Industrial branch Beirut Mount Lebanon North South Bekaa Nabatiyeh Total Percentage Food products & activities % Leather & leather products % Textile % Clothes & dyeing fur % Wood products % Non metallic mineral products % Fabricated metal products % Furniture & other manufactured products % ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 8

18 Quantity of Industrial Solid Waste Generated It is difficult to produce reliable estimates for the quantity of waste generated by industries due to the lack of data. However, it is estimated that Lebanese industries dispose of about 188,850 tons of solid wastes per year, out of which 3,338 tons/year are considered as hazardous and 54,692 tons/year non-hazardous, 73,000 tons/year construction and demolition wastes, and 57,820 tons/year putrescent wastes (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). Particular attention is given to slaughterhouse waste generation in Lebanon, the amount of which is estimated to be around 40,000 tones per year. Poultry houses also generate significant amounts of wastes from dead broilers, the total quantity being estimated to be 1,500 tones per year (assuming Lebanon produces 15 million broilers a year) (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). Special household wastes (battery liquid, acetone, paints, ink residues, etc.) are also sometimes considered to be industrial in nature with some 30 percent regarded as hazardous wastes. It is assumed that special wastes represent about 0.3 to 0.8 percent of total MSW generated. Based on these assumptions, Lebanon generates about 4,000 tones per year of special household wastes of which 1,200 tones per year are regarded to be hazardous (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). As for medical waste, there are 185 hospitals all over the country with a total number of 14,277 beds in the year 2000 (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). It is estimated that the average bed occupancy is only 56 percent and the average risk waste generation is 1.5 kg per day per occupied bed. Based on these assumptions, the total generated hospital risk waste is around 4,400 tones per year (or around 12 tones per day) and is expected to reach 5,000 tones in The above values are summarized in Table 3.6. Waste category Table 3.6. Non-Municipal Solid Waste Quantities Quantity (tones/year) Industrial waste Hazardous waste 3,338 Non-hazardous or recyclable waste 54,692 Construction/demolition and putrescent waste 130,820 Medical waste regions with expected highest generation rate Mount Lebanon-North Hospital risk waste 4,400 Mount Lebanon-Beirut Slaughter houses Slaughter house waste 40,000 Poultry house waste (dead broilers) 1,500 Beirut-Tripoli-Saida Special household waste Special household waste 4,000 Hazardous waste 1,200 Urban areas ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 9

19 3.2. THE EXISTING LEGISLATION ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Proposing a realistic framework law for solid waste management in Lebanon requires a detailed review of the existing legislation related to the topic and an assessment of the gaps and needs. This detailed review and assessment, of which the main results are presented in the subsections below, have been carried out by ELARD as part of the on-going SELDAS project (Strengthening the Environmental Legislation Development and Application System in Lebanon), a project by the UNESCO- Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand, funded by the European Commission Life Third Countries Program and hosted by the Ministry of Environment. A book on the State of the Environmental Legislation Development and Application System in Lebanon is under preparation and will be published, as part of the SELDAS project by the end of this year (i.e., 2004) Overview of the Existing Legislation A milestone in the history of environmental legislation in Lebanon consists of the ratification by the parliament of Law 444 dated 2002 on the Protection of the Environment. This law sets the framework for environmental protection in Lebanon. Law 444/2002 has recognized the importance of preserving the natural resources from the threats caused by the different sources of pollution. Solid waste generated as the result of human activities, forms a major burden on the natural resources in Lebanon. The development of a framework law for the integrated management of solid waste (including generation, storage, collection, transport, processing, treatment and disposal) is crucial in order to limit the negative impacts of this sector on the environment. Table 3.7 lists and briefly describes the legal texts that address, in one way or another, issues related to solid waste management. Currently, legislation on solid waste management consists of relatively independent texts that do not effectively tackle the problem. In particular, the current legislation lacks the proper classification of wastes, inappropriate attribution of responsibilities to the different stakeholders, limited provisions for technical standards and specifications for services and technologies, absence of a role for the private sector, and no consideration of financing and cost-recovery issues in waste management. The following sections provide a more detailed analysis on the legal, technical, implementation or financial aspects of waste management as tackled by the existing legislation. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 10

20 Type of the text Table 3.7. Existing Environmental Legislation Related to Solid Waste Management in Lebanon Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 214 2/19/1920 Disposal of slaughter house wastes Decision 188 4/19/1920 Prevention of risks to public health Decision /14/1921 Decision 320 5/26/1926 Identification of the coastal zone and specification of penalties for violation of coastal hunting regulations Preservation of the water belonging to public properties and its use Decree /3/1928 Recovery of fines related to the violations of decision 188 Decree /5/1931 Public cleanliness Legislative decree 16 6/30/1932 General health rules This decision bans the open dumping of solid waste produced by slaughter houses This decision forbids the open dumping of solid waste and assigns to the Ministry of Health the responsibility of supervising open dumping This decision sets limitations for industrial waste dumping in the sea This decision controls solid waste dumping on water bodies belonging to public properties This decree assigns to the Ministry of Finance the responsibility of collecting the fines related to solid waste violations based on the request of the Minister of Interior This decree controls solid waste dumping around residential areas and focuses on the necessity of collection and disposal of wastes as per the requirements of the municipalities This legislative decree proposes the formulation of some application decrees that should specify the conditions, especially those related to waste collection, promoting sanitation in residential areas and on the roads Decision 166 7/11/1933 Historical sites This decision bans waste storage near historical sites Decree /11/1936 Decision 6/a.c. 6/4/1936 Permitting requirements for bottled water and beverage industries Decision of health minister: general health conditions for industries This decree determines the permitting requirements for bottled water and beverages industries including solid waste disposal conditions This decision determines environmental conditions for industrial waste collection Decision /28/1936 Regulation of the surface water in Tripoli This decision forbids and controls any waste dumping from ships in the sea Decision /7/1936 Imposing the general conditions on car repair workshops in Beirut This decision specifies storage conditions of special waste in car repairing workshops ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 11

21 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Law 7/8 8/7/1939 Protecting the natural sites in Lebanon Decision /4/1940 Conditions for the institutions using welding Decision 169/b 27/5/1940 Decision 239 7/10/1940 Decision 649 3/23/1942 Legislative decree 340 1/3/1943 Penalties law Decree /24/1951 Decision of the Mayor of Beirut: regulating the sales of wood, coal and fuels Decision of the Mayor of Beirut: regulation of animals stables Decision of the Minister of Health: establishing a protected area around the spring of Nabeh al Assal in the mountain of Faraya Regulating health protection in all institutions under the Labor Law Decree /8/1954 Classifying summer attraction areas This law controls the construction of solid waste storage facilities on natural sites This decision sets conditions for solid waste storage and determines the penalties in case of violations of this decision This decision sets the storage conditions for waste generated from wood, coal and fuel selling stations This decision sets environmental conditions for waste collection and disposal in animal's stables This decision organizes and controls waste dumping in the protected area This legislative decree regulates solid waste dumping around water resources and on public roads This decree determines the solid waste storage conditions in all institutions under the previsions of the Labor Law This decree assigns the municipalities the responsibility of cleaning public streets and the entrances and providing waste transport services Law 10/8/1955 Implementing the international health system 2 This law regulates the transport and disposal of solid wastes Decree /30/1956 Specifying the terms for tax exemption of material imported by hotels This decree exempt hotels importing technologies for solid waste treatment from taxes Decision /10/1957 Decision of the Mayor of Beirut: regulation of bakeries This decision determines waste storage conditions in bakeries Decree /9/1961 Regulating the Civil Defense This decree determines the terms of cooperation between the Ministry of Public Works, the Civil Defense, and municipalities in removing the leftovers of demolished buildings Decree /30/1961 Organization of the Ministry of Public Health This decree distributes the responsibilities on the different services in the Ministry of Public Health concerning prevention of solid waste pollution including setting criteria for waste treatment and their monitoring ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 12

22 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decree /11/1962 Decision 39 17/2/1962 Responsibilities of the Head of the Construction and Maintenance Service Decision of the Minister of Health: conditions for transporting food Decree /5/1964 Organization of the General Directorate of Urban Planning This decree gives the Construction and Maintenance Service the role of keeping the roads clean This decision determines some environmental conditions for proper storage and disposal of waste in order to prevent contamination in food, beverages and ice cream vending stores This decree gives the Urban Planning Directorate the responsibility of preparing corrective studies related to cities and towns including collection and disposal of municipal waste Decree /9/1964 Imposing health conditions on meat vendors This decree sets conditions for waste collection generated by meat vendors Decree /2/1964 Hotels tax exemptions This decree exempts hotels importing technologies for solid waste treatment from taxes Decision 6 18/2/1964 Decision of the Mayor of Beirut: regulating the sweets industries This decision sets some environmental conditions for solid waste storage Law 76 12/26/1967 Law of circulation This law forbids dumping of cars parts Decision /7/1969 Decision of the Minister of Public Works: safety of people in water resorts This decision sets conditions for solid waste management in water resorts Regulation 4/12/1971 Slaughterhouses and poultry processing centers This regulation sets conditions for sanitary practices including proper solid waste management Decision 425/1 8/9/1971 Decision of the Minister of Interior and Public Health: imposing the use of plastic bags for waste storage Decree /23/1974 Preservation of public sanitation Decree /10/1974 Agreement 2/13/1976 Permitting the government to join the international convention concerning the liabilities of nuclear ships investors and its protocols Protocol about the areas under special protection in the Mediterranean sea This decision sets environmental conditions related to municipal waste storage and collection This decree specifies the terms for solid waste collection and disposal, including open dumping This decree distributes the liabilities toward nuclear pollution accidents This agreement develops environmental conditions for storage and disposal of solid waste for the protection of protected areas in the Mediterranean sea ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 13

23 Type of the text Legislative decree Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management /6/1977 Law of municipalities Decree /17/1979 Decree /23/1980 Decree /22/1982 Establishing a committee called the General Institution for Establishing and Managing the Industrial Centers Classifying an industrial zone in Chouayfat and specializing it for the establishment of public service projects for the southern suburbs of the city of Beirut Specifying the basics of accounting in the municipalities and the unions of municipalities Decree /9/1983 Regulating bottled water and beverages industries Decision /8/1986 Law 64 12/8/1988 Decision of the Mayor of Beirut: protecting health in restaurants, coffee shops, food vendors Protecting the environment from hazardous materials and establishment of a Higher Council for Environmental Protection This legislative decree holds the local authorities responsible of municipal waste collection and disposal This decree assigns the General Institution for Establishing and Managing the Industrial Centers the role of protecting the environment of the industrial zones from waste pollution through promoting sound waste management This decree allocates the lands in Amrousieh that will be determined for the public services projects, including the waste disposal plants This decree specifies the solid waste expenses included in the budgets of the municipalities (i.e. transport of waste) This decree determines the permitting requirements for bottled water and beverages industries including solid waste management requirements This decision sets the requirements for sound solid waste management and gives the health authorities the responsibilities to monitor the implementation process This law regulates the production, handling and disposal of hazardous materials Decree /5/1991 Regulating the membership of the interior security forces This decree assigns the coastal areas unit the responsibility of combating sea water pollution from solid waste Law 121 9/3/1992 Establishing two natural reserves (islands facing Tripoli) This law banned waste dumping in the natural reserves Decree /10/1992 Amendment of the application decree of the construction law Law 216 2/4/1993 Establishment of the Ministry of Environment This decree determines the environmental requirements for waste storage containers in residential buildings This law assigns the ministry of the environment the responsibility of preparing plans to limit the sources of pollution including solid waste in addition to supervising waste treatment ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 14

24 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Law 294 2/22/1994 Decree /21/1994 International convention for specifying the responsibility of ships owners and its protocols Approving the agreement between the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the Lebanese Company for Developing and Reconstructing the Center of Beirut to fund and execute the infrastructure works in the down town and land reclamation from the sea Decree /30/1994 Organization of the Ministry of Environment Law /4/1994 Law /2/1994 Project agreement Loan Number 3899 Lebanon 6/9/1995 Decision 29/1 6/23/1995 Basel convention on the control of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal Convention for Protecting the Mediterranean Sea's protocols signed in Barcelona 16/2/1976 Agreement on the Solid Waste Environmental Management Project (SWEMP) between the World Bank and the Council of Development and Reconstruction Decision of the Minister of the Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of dairy products industries This law holds the owners responsible of removing the parts of drawn ships from the sea This decree imposes on the Lebanese Company for Developing and Reconstructing the Center of Beirut to include solid waste collection facilities within the infrastructure in the downtown area This decree distributes the responsibilities of controlling solid waste pollution on the different services of the Ministry of Environment, including setting criteria for waste management, monitoring industrial and municipal waste disposal and controlling violations in this field This law defines the different types of wastes covered by the convention in addition to the environmental waste management principles. It also determines the obligations of the parties toward this convention. Finally it specifies the actions considered as violations of this convention This law discusses the obligation of parties to put standards, permits conditions for solid waste disposal, monitoring and evaluation activities, exchange of information concerning solid waste for the protection of the Mediterranean Sea This agreement imposes some conditions on the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the municipalities concerning the SWEMP project This decision defines solid waste produced from dairy products industries, sets conditions for waste management generated in these facilities, and assigns the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing monitoring and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation Decision 95 20/12/1995 Customs fees This decision determines the fees for importing the wastes of food industries ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 15

25 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decree Approving the general plan for the industrial areas Law 501 6/6/1996 Loan agreement between the Government of Lebanon and the World Bank and the related projects agreements dated 6/9/1995 This decree sets permitting requirements for solid waste management in industrial areas This law discusses ways for enhancing the efficiency of environmental waste disposal Law 532 7/24/1996 Establishing a nature reserve (Chouf cedars) This law bans the waste dumping in the natural reserve Decision 52/1 7/29/1996 Decree /29/1996 Decision of the Minister of Environment: determining the standards and specific levels for limiting air, water and soil pollution Establishment of two departments for primary health care in the Ministry of Health Law /7/1996 Convention of civil liabilities for nuclear damage Decree /7/1996 Regulation and permitting of printed publicities Decision 71/1 5/19/1997 Decree /21/1997 Decree /11/1997 Decision /28/1997 Decision of the Minister of Environment: regulating the import of wastes Reorganization of the General Directorate of Urban Planning Organization requirements concerning public safety and protection from fires in buildings Decision of the Mayor of Beirut concerning car repair workshops and public parking for a fee Decree Approving the general plan for some areas This decision determines the maximum allowable levels of air emissions produced by municipal waste incineration This decree gives Ministry of Health the responsibility of monitoring waste disposal This law defines nuclear wastes and the related damages and determines the penal responsibility toward accidents during transport of hazardous wastes This decree forbids dumping of flyers and printed publicities on the public roads This decision regulates the import of wastes by setting import conditions and gives the Ministry of Environment the right to review the documents and monitor the use of the imported waste This decree gives the Directorate of Urban Planning the responsibility of studying and disposing of municipal waste This decree sets conditions for the isolation of waste incinerators established in residential buildings This decision sets conditions for collection and disposal of waste in public parking This decree sets permitting requirements including solid waste storage conditions in some Lebanese areas ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 16

26 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decree Approving the general plan for some areas This decree sets environmental conditions for solid waste disposal in some Lebanese areas Law 9 2/20/1999 Establishing a natural reserve (Tannourine cedars) This law bans the waste dumping in the natural reserve Law 10 2/20/1999 Establishing a natural reserve in Yammouneh This law controls the waste dumping in the natural reserve Law 11 2/20/1999 Establishing a natural reserve in Bintael This law controls the waste dumping in the natural reserve Decree /9/1999 law 15 2/23/1999 Decree /10/2000 Decision 90/1 17/10/2000 Decree /15/2000 Customs Law Decision 29/ Setting the terms of agreements for the cooperation in the environmental field between the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Environment in the Sultanate of Oman and the Ministry of Environment in Lebanon Loan agreement between the Lebanese government and the European Investment bank dated 10/9/1997 for funding waste water treatment in Tripoli Determining the general conditions for establishing and investing tourist establishments Decision of the Minister of Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting buildings within the protected areas near rivers under the protection of the Ministry of Environment Decision of the Minister of Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of dairy product industries This decree discussed the necessity of exchanging expertise in the field of solid and hazardous waste management This law imposes on the loan receiver to dispose the waste produced by the wastewater treatment plant This decree sets the permitting requirements for solid waste management for tourist establishments This decision defines solid waste produced from construction sites, it sets conditions for waste management generated by this sector, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decree starts by defining waste and waste generators in general, it organizes import of waste and the storage conditions in the public warehouses This decision defines solid waste produced by dairy products industries, sets conditions for waste management generated these facilities, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 17

27 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 8/1 30/1/2001 Memo 3909/2001 3/31/2001 Decision 166/1 5/7/2001 Decree /17/2001 Decree /16/2001 Decision 60/1 10/9/2001 Decision 61/1 10/9/2001 Decision 3/1 12/1/2001 Decision of the MoE setting characteristics and standards related to air pollutants and liquid waste emitted from classified establishment and wastewater treatment plants Memo of the General Director of Customs: determining the import of products and their wastes and monitoring requirements and supervision over the processes Decision of the Minister of Agriculture: allowing the use and export of manufactured and thermally treated poultry leftover powder Amendment of the properties regulation in the Dakarman area Signing the terms of agreement and cooperation in the environmental field between the Syrian and Lebanese governments Decision of the Minister of Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of construction bricks industries Decision of the Minister of the Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of plastic industries Decision of the Minister of the Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of industries generating meat and poultry waste through cooking or dry fermenting Includes revised standards for municipal solid waste incinerators This memo regulates the import of waste producing products This decision defines wastes generated from poultry processing industries, it sets conditions for poultry leftovers treatment, it assigns the inspection task on this industry to a specialist and allows the use and export of leftovers The decree imposes on the waste treatment facility to perform a study for the protection of the public health This decree determines the necessity of exchanging information in the field of solid waste management between the Syrian and the Lebanese governments This decision defines solid waste produced by bricks industries, sets conditions for waste management generated these facilities, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decision defines solid waste produced by plastic industries, sets conditions for waste management generated these facilities, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decision sets conditions for meat and poultry waste management generated through cooking or dry fermenting facilities, gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 18

28 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 4/1 12/1/2001 Decision 5/1 12/1/2001 Decision 16/1 21/3/2001 Decree /12/2001 Decision of the Minister of Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of slaughter houses Decision of the Minister of Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and operation of fuel distribution stations Decision of the Minister of the environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment cattle and poultry farms Specifying the conditions imposed on youth, sports and scouts associations Decree Approving the general plan for some areas Decree /26/2002 Approving the general plan for industrial areas This decision sets conditions for waste management generated from slaughter houses, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decision sets conditions for waste management generated from fuel distribution stations, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decision started by defining solid waste produced by cattle poultry farms, sets conditions for waste management generated these facilities, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decree controls any waste dumping from air planes This decree sets environmental conditions for solid waste management in some Lebanese areas This decree forbids the establishment of waste storage and sorting industries in specific areas Decision 15/1 4/3/2002 Decision of the Minister of the Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of glass industries This decision defines solid waste produced from glass industries, sets conditions for waste management generated from glass industries, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 19

29 Type of the text Number Date Subject/Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 16/1 4/3/2002 Decision of the Minister of the Environment: the environmental conditions for permitting the establishment and investment of rubber industries Decree /10/2002 Organization of mines and quarries Law 432 8/8/2002 Stockholm convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants This decision defines solid waste produced from rubber industries, sets conditions for waste management generated from rubber industries, and gives the Ministry of Environment the responsibility of setting the environmental conditions and imposing them when necessary, performing the monitoring patrols and the right to retrieve the permit in case of violation This decree determines the permitting conditions for solid waste management in mines and quarries, and distributes the task of detecting violations between the Ministry of Environment, municipalities police, and the interior defense forces This law defines the sources of persistent organic pollutants and concentrates on the importance of establishing solid waste management strategies in order to reduce the production of persistent organic pollutants Law 444 8/8/2002 Protection of the Environment Decree /6/2002 Decree /6/2002 Determination of the types of hospital wastes and the disposal techniques Determining the basics and permitting conditions for the establishment and investment of industrial institutions Basic regulation of the waste management sector, proposing decrees to be formulated by the Council of Ministers and controlling violations in the solid waste field This decree defines and organizes the hospital waste management including treatment, storage and disposal This decree sets permitting requirements for solid waste disposal ELARD SELDAS Matrix Construction and Reports Summary. UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Chair at the University of Balamand/ Ministry of Environment/ European Commission Life Third Countries Program ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 20

30 3.2.2 Legal Aspects In a legal standpoint, most of the legislative texts related to solid waste management are old and outdated, and do not incorporate modern environmental principles or account for up-to-date knowledge with respect to solid waste management services and technologies. In addition, most texts do not differentiate among the different types of wastes or their level of hazard, with the exception of the Basel Convention. The classification of wastes according to their source was limited to a set of decisions proposed by the Ministers of Environment and Agriculture defining the wastes produced by specific industries without indicating the level of hazard incurred by the waste. However, it is important to note that the latest decree on medical waste classified the wastes generated by healthcare institutions into five categories according to their levels of hazard. Yet, decisions issued by Ministers, including that of the Environment and Agriculture as mentioned above, are problematic in that the texts are not enforceable given that they were not submitted for review and consent by the Council of State Technical Aspect The existing waste legislation in the Republic of Lebanon lacks a framework law specifying the standards, environmental requirements and conditions for an integrated waste management network. Few texts do differentiate amongst the various waste types and specify some of the standards and conditions for waste management such as those related to international conventions (Basel Convention), the law 64/88 (on hazardous materials) and the decree 8006/2002 (on hospital wastes). However, a vast majority of the texts do not fully cover the major components of the waste management sector resulting in inadequate and incomplete definitions of key terms, ambiguous distribution of responsibilities, non-comprehensive coverage of the existing wastes types, incomplete provisions for standards and environmental requirements, confusing permitting conditions that do not favor private sector participation, and quasi-absence of provisions for financing, cost recovery and incentives mechanisms. The main issues that were actually addressed in most of the texts concerning solid waste management are mainly limited to banning open dumping and specifying storage conditions. Specifications and standards for solid waste treatment and disposal facilities do not cover a comprehensive range of facilities and are limited to the air emission standards from municipal waste incinerators. In addition, although some texts had imposed some standards and conditions for industrial and non-industrial waste management, they did not specify enforcement and implementation mechanisms. While a set of ministerial decisions was issued by the MoE in an attempt to regulate the permitting requirements for classified establishments (industrial and non-industrial), they are not ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 21

31 enforceable since these decisions do not comply with all legal requirements as stated earlier with respect to the approval of the Council of State. Permitting procedures for solid waste treatment/disposal facilities are also weak and incomplete and lack in the determination of specific environmental standards and conditions required. In terms of import of solid wastes, two texts were published, but were not clear about the types of wastes covered, the implementation mechanisms and the cooperation means between the concerned authorities Implementation Aspect One of the major gaps in the Lebanese environmental legislation is the absence of application texts for most of the laws and decrees. This deficiency is extensively apparent in the case of waste management legislation, especially when it comes to limiting the impact of this sector on the environment (pollutants emissions, management of industrial, hazardous and special wastes, and environmental conditions for the establishment of treatment and disposal facilities). Besides the absence of application decrees, the legislations lack short-term and longterm vision concerning solid waste management in Lebanon. As opposed to the American and European legislations that have set target limits for waste generation, treatment and disposal levels (according to the different methods used) in order to encourage waste minimization (through recycling, reuse, waste reduction and cost/energy recovery), similar waste management strategies and plans were not developed in Lebanon. Besides the lack of legal requirement for the development of such plans, the absence of these is also definitely related to the vague distribution of planning responsibilities between the MoE, the CDR and other authorities. For example, the MoE was assigned the role of preparing detailed studies to control the different sources of pollution. At the same time, the CDR was given the responsibility of producing development plans, performing studies and research for development and reconstruction purposes, including solid waste management. However, the lack of application decrees giving the MoE the implementation tools resulted in the CDR assimilating all these responsibilities. Other stakeholders were also assigned a role in the planning process such as the Union of Municipalities and the Directorate of Urban Planning, yet the related texts did not clearly specify the framework for these authorities to implement their responsibilities. It is interesting to note that the legislative texts did not allocate responsibilities to the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities concerning solid waste management other than the role of municipalities and local authorities in collecting and transporting solid waste. Another important issue is that the reviewed legislation did not include environmental considerations in the planning process through such tools as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), and this issue was only briefly discussed in Law ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 22

32 444. As a result, the solid waste sector suffered from the lack of environmental planning, leading most of the times to non-sustainable decisions being taken with no long-term solution on the horizon. With respect to the supervision of solid waste management activities, the existing legal framework does not assign a specific authority to be responsible of such an important role, which created confusion among the concerned authorities including MoE, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, CDR and the local authorities. The existing texts do not specify the monitoring mechanisms to ensure environmental compliance from the industrial sector, other classified establishments and health care establishments, based on permitting requirements, thus leading again to a lack of implementation and enforcement of the law. Finally, other factors have also contributed to the poor enforcement of the waste management legislation, including the weak capacity of public institutions, particularly in terms of the insufficient number of a qualified workforce for planning, monitoring and controlling violations as well as the lack of environmental awareness at the decision-making level Financial Aspect As opposed to international legislation that typically provides mechanisms for financing regulated environmental activities by using principles such as the polluterpays principle or the user-pays principle, the Lebanese environmental legislation does not tackle the issue of financing and cost-recovery of waste management. Despite the fact that the polluter-pays principle is mentioned in Law 444, no application decree has yet been developed in order to implement it. In fact, the use of financial elements was restricted, in the Lebanese legislation, to allocating budgets for municipalities for the transport of waste and disposal in specific cases. Moreover, the lack of financial incentives was evident in the reviewed texts, except for the decision of the Council of Ministers providing incentives for municipalities trying to establish solid waste disposal facilities and a vague mention of incentives in Law The Council of Ministers Decisions ( ) This section presents a short analysis of the Council of Ministers (CoM) decisions that were published from 1997 to date in the field of solid waste management. These are listed in Table 3.8. Most of the texts focused on non-hazardous wastes, especially municipal nonhazardous waste, while only three decisions tackled the topic of hazardous wastes, including biological and industrial waste. This highlights the fact that Lebanese legislations in general do not recognize the importance of classifying waste into ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 23

33 hazardous and non-hazardous waste, therefore only focusing on non-hazardous waste management. It is also clear that most of the decisions tackle the issue of solid waste collection, treatment and disposal (especially landfilling and waste dumping), hence neglecting all other components of integrated solid waste management (such as waste minimization and cost/energy recovery). The listed decisions also do not adequately distribute responsibilities, hence creating confusion and hindering implementation. For instance, the planning responsibilities were divided between the MoE and the CDR, but without clearly specifying the distribution of tasks between the two agencies. In addition, waste collection, treatment and disposal tasks were allocated to the CDR, the municipalities, and the waste generators, creating therefore a misunderstanding concerning the limits of responsibilities of each concerned authority. Finally, it is important to comment on the inefficiency that was noted at the decisionmaking level, especially in the process of determining landfill locations. In fact, this inefficiency was reflected through the set of decisions and amendments that were formulated concerning this topic, which may be caused by the lack of strategic and environmental planning at the decision-making level. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 24

34 Table 3.8. List and Description of the Council of Ministers Decisions on Solid Waste Management Published from 1997 to date Type of texts Number Date Subject / Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 18 1/22/1997 Approving the plan of the Ministry of Environment to resolve the problem related to the Bourj Hammoud dump and the solid waste problem in Lebanon This decision proposes plans to solve the waste problem in Lebanon Decision 31 8/28/1997 The waste issue This decision includes some plans to reduce the negative impacts of solid waste and to promote environmental waste management Decision 24 8/8/2002 Decree /15/2002 Decision 33 11/28/2002 Decision 3 7/31/2003 Decision 16 8/14/2003 Amendment of point c in the part 1 from the ministerial decision number 27 dated 11/7/2002 concerning canceling the contract with the company DJ Jones for waste supervision Amending the decree 1917 (specifying the basics and rules for the distribution of the independent municipal fund) Giving the authorization to the municipality of Saida to reclaim land from the sea and establishing on it a municipal waste treatment plant The CDR proposed treating municipal, industrial, hospital and slaughter houses waste and waste resulting from waste water treatment plants in Lebanon Recommendation of the ministerial committee assigned to study the proposal of the CDR for the treatment of municipal,,industrial, hospital and slaughter houses waste and waste resulting from waste water treatment plants in Lebanon This decision cancels the contract signed between the CDR and LACECO and DJ Jones companies and replaces it by a contract with a specialized international company This decision sets financial incentives offered to municipalities establishing solid waste treatment and disposal facilities This decision gives the municipality of Saida the authorization to establish a municipal waste treatment plant for the city of Saida on a land reclaimed on the sea The CDR created a committee for studying its proposal about treating municipal, industrial, hospital and slaughterhouse wastes and waste resulting from waste water treatment plants in Lebanon This decision distributes the responsibilities among the CDR, the municipalities and producers of solid waste, to collect, treat and dispose of the solid waste ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 25

35 Type of texts Number Date Subject / Title Description / Relation to solid waste management Decision 6 11/6/2003 Decision 1 11/13/2003 Decision 70 2/12/2004 Decision 12 4/8/2004 Decision 68 5/20/2004 The report of the assigned technical committee according to the decision 16 above concerning treatment and landfilling municipal waste The assigned ministerial committee decided according to the decision 6 above to study the report of the technical committee according to the decision 16 above related to determining for treating and landfilling municipal waste Securing funds for the activation of Zahle landfill and supervising the operation works for additional 3 years until the date 31/12/2006 Amending the deadlines presented in the council of ministers' decision number 22 dated 8/4/2004 concerning starting the bidding for solid waste management in Lebanon The technical committee report number 3 for determining locations for treating and landfilling municipal waste The assigned technical committee had prepared a report related to determining locations for treating and landfilling municipal waste which included 20 locations distributed on every Mouhafaza. and proposed to assess the situation of the Naameh landfill The assigned technical committee had prepared a report related to determining locations for treating and landfilling municipal waste which included 20 locations distributed on every Mouhafaza. the council proposed to restudy the present situation of the landfill in Naameh. The CDR decided restudying the locations and increasing the number of treatment facilities The CDR had presented to the council of ministers a proposal for the 3 years extension in the operation of Zahle landfill and the supervision of the operation works and providing the needed funds from the year 2004 budget The committee asked to restudy the determination of treating and landfilling locations for solid waste according to the following remarks: distributing the waste produced in Beirut on the neighboring caza and determining landfilling location and the quantities of waste that will be brought to each caza; distributing the waste produced in Tripoli on the neighboring caza and determining landfilling location and the quantities of waste that will be brought to each caza; finding a landfill location for Kesrwan area; amending the strategy of solid waste management in Lebanon; amending the strategy of municipal waste management in Lebanon proposed by the Ministry of the Environment The council of ministers has asked from the CDR to start the bidding related to the municipal waste management on condition that the tender book mention the necessity that the offers of the companies willing to enter the bidding include the solid waste disposal techniques and sites, and the results should be presented to the Council of Ministers for final decision. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 26

36 3.3. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK As noted several times in the previous section, there is no clear distribution of responsibilities among the different stakeholders in the waste management sector in Lebanon, a situation that significantly contributes to the inadequate management of this sector in the country. This section further describes the responsibilities of different stakeholders in waste management as defined by the Lebanese legislations and highlights the current duplication of responsibilities The Council of Ministers The CoM issues the environmental laws and decrees proposed by the Minister of the Environment and the other concerned Ministers, in order to protect the environment. The most important role that the council plays in the field of solid waste management is related to financial incentives. According to the Law 444, the council is expected to formulate a decree organizing incentives, being up to 50% customs taxes discount, for the parties using technologies for waste treatment, reuse and recycle. The council has already published a set of decisions giving incentives to municipalities to implement waste management facilities within their jurisdictions The Ministries The Ministry of Environment The responsibilities of the MoE in the waste management field are multiple according to its mandates. Responsibilities vary from planning, to setting standards and environmental requirements, organizing permits and supervising the activities of solid waste generators and waste handlers/operators. At the planning side, the MoE is responsible for performing the necessary studies and develop plans for the different types of polluters by carrying out a survey of all existing establishments that can produce environmentally harmful wastes. At the same level, the Minister of the Environment in consultation with other concerned ministers was given the responsibility of proposing decrees concerning: 1) specifying criteria for locating all types of wastes landfills; 2) the environmental conditions and standards for their construction and operation; and 3) determining the fate of open dumped waste and monitoring its final disposal. Accordingly, the MoE was given the role of studying and classifying the industrial wastes and determining their disposal methods. Moreover, the responsibilities of the MoE covered setting standards and environmental requirements for generators of pollution. This task is supposed to be undertaken within the Service for the Protection of the Urban Environment that should set criteria and environmental conditions for all solid waste disposal facilities being established and give its opinion on the studies and tender documents prepared for these facilities. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 27

37 According to Law 444, the Minister of the Environment and other concerned Ministers were given the authority to propose the application decrees specifying the technical standards that should be followed by the solid waste treatment and disposal facilities. In addition, this same law gave the MoE the role of determining the ways and conditions for importing material and waste producing products, handling, disposing and transporting on the Lebanese grounds, through a proposed decree. The MoE is also involved in organizing the permitting process for the sources of pollution. The decree 8006/2002 gave the MoE the responsibility of organizing the permitting process for the health care wastes treatment facilities. Finally, the MoE is responsible for monitoring and supervising waste treatment and disposal through the Service of Protection of the Urban Environment. Besides, the Department for Control is responsible of taking action in case of the violations of set requirements in cooperation with the concerned authorities. At a later stage, the MoE was given the authority of retrieving the permits of classified establishments whenever they violate the environmental requirements for solid waste management imposed by the decisions of the Minister The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities The Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM), represented by the Council of Unions of Municipalities, was assigned to study the public projects including solid waste projects. As a result of assigning the municipalities the responsibility to manage solid wastes, a special unit in the municipality collects and transport solid wastes during a specific schedule and is responsible of cleaning the streets and public spaces under its authority. Moreover, the municipalities were given the right to establish in their territories waste disposal facilities; however, the related texts do not specify the type of these facilities. At the level of providing incentives for proper waste collection, the municipality is supposed to provide the citizens with plastic bags for waste under a special budget. The municipality is also held responsible for controlling the violations occurring due improper solid waste practices. Furthermore, the General Directorate of Customs (also under the authority of the MoIM), under the request of the owners, can dispose the products damaged during storage in the public warehouse, and then can impose taxes and fees on the owner according to the produced waste. In case the owners cannot be reached, the General Directorate of Customs can sell the stored products. The interior security force, represented by the coastal areas unit, is responsible for controlling the environmental violations occurring in the sea and coastal areas. Finally, the interior security force elements, the municipalities police and the inspectors of the MoE are responsible for controlling violations of environmental permits, including solid waste management, in the mining and quarrying sector. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 28

38 The Ministry of Health Before the establishment of the MoE, the Ministry of Health (MoH) was responsible of controlling the environmental and public health related problems. Therefore, according to the decision 188, this Ministry, represented by the Hygiene Department, had the role to collect dirt and wastes. However nowadays, the Directorate of Prevention at the MoH replaced this department. At a later stage, the MoH was able to propose criteria and conditions for waste collection and disposal according the decree Some of the legislative texts discussed the role of the MoH in supervising the disposal of solid waste; however these texts are not clear enough about the perspective of this task, the tools or the mechanisms used by the Ministry to reach its goals The Ministry of Public Works and Transport The Directorate General of Urban Planning, at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MoPWT), is responsible for performing corrective studies in cities and towns, including waste collection and treatment, according to the decree This decree was amended, later on, and the tasks of this directorate were limited to studying and treating municipal waste. Moreover, the Directorate of Roads and Buildings assumed the responsibility of cleaning the sides of the roads from wastes. The MoPWT is also required to help the civil defense and assist municipalities to demolish old buildings and remove their leftovers and inert wastes The Ministry of Industry The role of the Ministry of Industry (MoI) in waste management seems to be insignificant, even when the industrial sector is known to be one of the main solid waste producers. The MoI is only responsible of setting the environmental permitting requirements for building the industrial establishments The Council for Development and Reconstruction The CDR was assigned to take over the planning responsibilities for development purposes, and preparing studies and research, including the field of solid waste management. In addition, this council was involved in planning for the municipal waste management within the Beirut area, through signing a contract with the Lebanese Company for Developing and Reconstructing the Center of Beirut to include within the infrastructure waste collection tools and facilities. Most importantly, the CDR was the government representative for the coordination of the SWEMP project, financed by the World Bank. Unfortunately this project has been cancelled. The CDR had also been involved in the planning of health care wastes management in Lebanon also as part of the World Bank fund. The plan developed by an international consultant on behalf of the CDR has however never been implemented due to several constraints. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 29

39 3.3.4 Local Authorities The role of municipalities in solid waste management has somewhat changed throughout the years. Most recently, CoM decided that the local authorities would be responsible for sweeping and collection services, leaving the responsibility of treatment and disposal to the central government Security and Juridical Authorities The Police of the Juridical Body is responsible for controlling the crimes related to hazardous wastes disposal. The court is responsible of taking a final decision concerning the harmful/hazardous waste disposal violations while the concerned authorities take responsibility of the proper disposal on the expense of the polluter. As a result, when detecting a violation, the material used during the crime will be confiscated temporarily until the court decision is announced SWM POLICIES, PLANS AND PRACTICES IN LEBANON The previous sections revealed the absence of a clear legal framework for SWM in Lebanon that sets institutional responsibilities, builds on an objective policy statement, and sets standards for implementation including private sector participation, financing and cost recovery mechanisms. This section continues to elaborate on solid waste management by describing both the earlier and the current waste management policies, plans, and practices adopted in the Republic of Lebanon Government Plans Prior to Civil War Prior to the civil war, the government s solid waste plan was limited primarily to the Beirut Municipality, and consisted of the collection of wastes and its incineration in two plants, namely the Amroussieh plant located in the southern end of Beirut and the Quarantina plant located in the northern end. The ashes were dumped in various areas scattered around the city. The plants capacities were large enough to accommodate the entire city s waste. However, due the outbreak of the civil war, population migration from the countryside drastically increased the population number. As a result, the plants were overloaded and lacked maintenance, which resulted in their subsequent shut down (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Chaos during Civil War The civil war in Lebanon, which extended from 1975 until 1990, destroyed the fabric of the Lebanese society and its economy, and devastated its public administration and infrastructure. Various forms of private provisions for infrastructure and makeshift operations emerged to compensate for the loss of public services. Throughout this period, national policy for SWM was almost non-existent with uncontrolled dumping and burning along coastal areas, in empty lots and ravines flourishing nation-wide because of the absence of state authority. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 30

40 The war divided Beirut into two sectors, East Beirut and West Beirut. The Municipality of Beirut continued to collect waste during this period but the service was usually interrupted during combat. Since the Quarantina dump was in eastern Beirut, the hydraulic garbage trucks remained in that section of the city. For west Beirut, the municipality had to rent dump trucks for garbage collection. An alternative for the Quarantina was the Normandy dumpsite located northwest from the Beirut Central District. Due to the constant armed clashes, the Municipality of Beirut was unable to collect taxes and fees, and went bankrupt. Eventually, various militias around the city controlled the garbage trucks and civil committees were formed to handle sanitation. With the absence of state authority together with financial and technical constraints, open dumping and burning continued to be the dominant practice during this period (UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Privatization Strategy and BOT Projects With the end of the civil war in 1990, important investments were made by the government to reconstruct the infrastructure that was severely damaged. In the early stages of the reconstruction period, municipalities were mainly inactive, and the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities stepped in and took in charge waste collection until the CDR took over and allocated funds from a Saudi loan for the clean up of the city of Beirut. Another project financed by a World Bank loan formed The Joint Committee for Beirut and its Suburbs and assumed the solid waste management responsibilities (UNEP and Cedare, 2000). Open dumping in the Normandy continued until 1993 when SOLIDERE took over the Beirut Central District (BCD) and initiated a reconstruction program for the area. The Normandy dumpsite at that time had already covered an area of 600,000 square meters, mostly in the sea, reaching a depth of over 17 meters off the shore. As a result, the government ordered to stop dumping in the Normandy and a land reclamation project was initiated. MSW disposal was shifted to the Bourj Hammoud sea side area where the waste started to pile up. On the other hand, the Quarantina plant was upgraded and solid waste was sorted, recycled, composted, and incinerated in that plant. Until the first half of 1994, the Municipality of Beirut was responsible for the collection of waste, while private sector participation was limited to administrative work such as the one performed by the French Company OTV that was in charge of administering the disposal process in Beirut. However, the government became unable to finance, implement or manage several public services or projects (including solid waste infrastructure and services). As such, the government shifted towards decentralization and private sector participation. The first major private sector involvement was the contract awarded to Sukkar Group in August 1994 for solid waste management, when Sukleen took over waste collection and sweeping in the Greater Beirut Area (GBA) while Sukomi assumed disposal and processing activities in 1997 and 1998, respectively. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 31

41 Note however that the decisions for BOT projects were made in isolation from each other and without the guidance of a national strategy. As a result, limited efforts went in the technical and legal preparation process for these concessions, which gave insufficient ground to investors and minimal adequate protection to the public (UNEP and Cedare, 2000). Because of public opposition and threats against some of its solid waste management projects, in particular the Bourj Hammoud dump site, the government found it self pressured to change its plans. By December 1996, the government adopted the Emergency Plan for GBA which was contracted to a private company Current Policies and Plans for SWM in GBA Currently the solid waste generated in the GBA is being managed in accordance with the 1997 Emergency Plan. While the plan was well organized, the execution of the plan was inadequate, with key indicators well below target, especially with respect to recycling and composting. The mere 15 percent of waste composted and only 5 percent of recovered material recycled left nearly 80 percent of the waste to be disposed in the landfill, resulting in a drastic reduction of the lifetime of the sanitary landfill built under this plan. On the other hand, even though incineration is not clearly banned by the government under any ministerial decision or law, this option is currently fading away from the government SWM policies, mostly due to public opposition and is being replaced by a national program for the construction of landfills, sorting and composting facilities The Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA On January 1997, CDR adopted the Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA under Decision No. 58, dated 2/01/1997 in consultation with the MoE. The plan was implemented by Sukomi, a Sukkar Group company and called for the refurbishing of the Quarantina and Amrousieh sites and the closure of the Bourj Hammoud dumpsite while promoting composting and recycling. To carry out the Integrated SWM activities adopted in this plan, several facilities were constructed (Figure 3.3). Table 3.9 includes the proposed facilities in the Emergency Plan (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). The plan assumed that 1,700 tones per day (620,000 tones per year) of raw MSW would be processed at two sorting facilities. Around 160 tones per day would be recovered for recyclable materials (58,000 tones per year) while transferring 300 tones per day of organic material to the composting plant (110,000 tones per year) while the remaining would be disposed into landfills. The plan also envisioned the provision of additional surface area to build a second composting plant, thereby increasing the composting capacity from 300 to 850 tones per day. Finally, the plan called for shredding and transporting 200 tones per day of inert and bulky materials to Bsalim landfill (Table 3.10). ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 32

42 Table 3.9. Facilities Needed for the Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA Activity Composting Sorting and Processing Storing and shredding Disposal of sorted MSW Disposal of inert and bulky material Facilities Construct one composting plant for sorted organic material (Coral) Refurbish Quarantina and Amrousieh plants to sort and process raw MSW One warehouse facility for storing and shredding bulky and recyclable materials (located along the seashore, next to Bourj Hammoud dump site) Construction of the Naameh Landfill for the disposal of sorted MSW in the form of baled waste consisting primarily of inert materials Construction of one landfill for the disposal of inert and bulky materials (Bsalim) Incoming Waste Karantina (Sorting Facility) Organic Bales Recyclables Warehouse Bsalim Landfill (Shredded waste and bulky items) Coral (Composting facility) Compost rejects Naameh Landfill (Baled Waste) Recyclables Aamroussieh (Sorting facility) Organic Bales Figure 3.3. Components of Emergency SWM Plan for GBA (1997) ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 33

43 Table Targets of the GBA Emergency Plan for SWM (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Waste destination Before expansion of composting facility After expansion of composting facility Tones/day Percentage Tones/day Percentage To Recycling To landfill 1, To composting Total received and processed waste at sorting plant 1, % 1, % Emergency Plan: Execution and Performance While the plan had laid down the foundations for an integrated solid waste management approach in the GBA and enhanced the involvement of the private sector in waste management, it has suffered from a number of inherent deficiencies. Table 3.11 summarizes some of these deficiencies during the management and execution of the plan. Table Main Deficiencies in the Emergency Plan for SWM in GBA (MoE/Ecodit, 2001; UNEP and Cedare, 2000) Performance Level Planning and designing Built-in Deficiencies The planners underestimated the total amount of waste generated in GBA that would be processed in the two sorting plants. The Bsalim Landfill was supposed to host a secondary sanitary landfill but due to environmental risks the landfill was used to receive only inert materials. The capacity of the composting plant was underestimated and no land was made available to construct a new plant. The plan envisioned that the Naameh Landfill would last 10 years with a total capacity of 4 million tones (2 million tones in Landfill 1 and 2 million tones in Landfill 2); however Landfill 1 was never constructed for environmental reasons. Currently the Naameh landfill is receiving around 80 percent of total raw MSW generated in GBA which is almost 8 percent higher than what was targeted for the Landfill. The Plan did not follow through with the necessary incentives to promote the recycling of recovered materials (no specific incentives to promote the recycling industry) or the use of compost in various land applications (e.g. agriculture, landscaping, and forestation). The Plan did not include any program or mechanism to promote home separation and source generation reduction. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 34

44 Performance Level Operation Built-in Deficiencies The amount of recycled materials recovered in the two plants was well below the plan s target of 9.41 percent of raw MSW. Because a significant amount of the recovered material could not be sold to the recycling industry (mainly due to the quality of the recovered material and local market size), more recyclable material was shipped to the Naameh Landfill for final disposal. Landfill 2 was receiving on average 600,000 tons/year (i.e. an excess of 200,000 tons per year than the 400,000 tons/year the landfill was originally designed to receive-), the landfill was filled up in only 3 ½ years which is less than the 5 years estimated for it. Expansion Plans Transition period The capacity of the composting facilities was not expanded as envisioned in the plan (from 300 to 850 tons/day); as a result the plants were operating at maximum load and significant fraction of organic materials was not composted but rather baled and wrapped with the rest of the reject materials and shipped to the Naameh Landfill for final disposal. Proper transition period was not allotted before shifting to the Emergency Plan (due to the immediate closure of Bourj Hammoud dump); as a result, disposal of waste in Landfill 2 (cell 1) began even before all construction and quality control procedures were completed. Therefore, cell 1 was built with substandard design and could not be upgraded once it began receiving waste. By the time part of the landfill was finished, the warehouse used for temporary storage was completely filled by 37,000 bails of waste (which started to rot and smell); this caused a logistic dilemma for Sukomi which was required to transfer the 37,000 bails and additional 400 bails generated daily to the Naameh landfill. Contracts The Plan and related contracts for SWM were structured based on inputs (waste quantity sent to composting, recycling, and landfill disposal) rather than outputs (waste quantity recycled and sold, compost used for land applications, and waste land disposed). Since the payment method was based on the expected amount of waste generated from each area (number of dwellings served), this may have created the incentives for the contractor to minimize the quantity of waste treated (to save costs) and generate more waste during composting and recycling process, irrespective of the amounts of treated or recovered waste sold. The first collection contract was initially based on weight. Since payment was based on weight alone, this has encouraged the contractor to maximize the weight collected by adding soils or heavy construction materials. Furthermore, this weight based contract also discouraged resource recovery (scavenging) from streets and containers. The annual operation costs for the first three years of the private company s operation were between USD 55 and 65 million per year, handling between 650, ,000 tons of solid wastes per year, or about half of the total solid wastes generated in Lebanon (Table 3.15). ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 35

45 Table MSW Treatment Costs in the Extended Greater Beirut Area (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Year 1 (97-98) Year 2 (98-99) Year 3 (99-00) Total Actual Treatment Cost (US$) Waste Handled (Tons) Unit Treatment Cost (US$/ton) Overall Collection Cost (US$) Collection Cost/ton (US$) Overall Landfilling Cost (US$) Landfilling Cost/ton (US$) Overall System Costs (US$) 21,000,000 25,000,000 27,400,000 74,400, , , ,000 2,082, ,000,000 20,000,000 20,000,000 60,000, ,000,000 14,000,000 14,000,000 42,000, Treatment costs include the operation and maintenance of the following: (i) Sorting, (ii) Baling, (iii) Haulage of sorted organic materials to the Coral composting plant, (iv) Composting, and (v) Manual sorting and shredding at the warehouse facility. The most updated costs for various SWM services in the GBA are given in Table The total costs of the emergency plan implemented by the GoL since its inception to date is summarized in Table Table Contract Unit Cost of MSWM System for GBA Sorting Baling Wrapping Hauling to Coral Composting Plant Composting Landfill Disposal* US$20.17/ton US$12.05/ton US$9.72/ton US$4.25/ton US$19.19/ton US$25-41/ton *$40.7/ton for land-fill wastes up to 400,000 tons, $29/ton for land-filled waste between 400, ,000 tons, $34.9/ton in excess of 500,000 tons. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 36

46 Table Total Costs Incurred Since Inception of Emergency Plan in Lebanon (From ) Emergency plan $34,000,000 Greater Beirut Collection $236,983,280 Up to 31/3/04 Greater Beirut Treatment Plants $177,935,000 Up to 29/2/04 Greater Beirut Sanitary Landfill $148,260,000 Up to 18/4/04 Tripoli $8,150,000 Up to 5/7/04 Zahle $2,685,000 Up to 31/3/04 Total $608,013,280 The total cost of the emergency plan is over $US608 million, a cost of $86.9 million per year (over a seven-year period). There are significant gains to be reaped from proper PSP. Opening SWM to an authentic bidding process with real competition and accountability will undoubtedly reduce costs and improve service MoIM MSW Policy The MoIM also prepared its own policy and strategy for SWM in the country. Based on recommendations of a study completed in 2002, Development of a comprehensive solid waste management plan for Lebanon and development of relative tender documents, MoIM proposed a policy regarding SWM in GBA. The policy calls for increasing the composting capacity, improving the level of recycling and the construction of two incinerators to treat the remaining waste before its disposal into landfill. The policy set several targets for organic waste disposal levels and proposed establishing new legislation for solid waste management. However, this strategy remained in the shelves of the ministry and was never implemented Current Policies and Plans for SWM outside GBA As for the areas outside the GBA, the management of MSW is generally disorganized and consists of controlled dumping of waste in coastal dumps (Tripoli, Saida) or uncontrolled dumping and burning in various inland dumpsites and river valleys with collection mainly carried out by municipalities with some cases where collection is contracted to the private sector. The following sections explain the different initiatives that were or are being carried out to improve waste management services in areas outside GBA Solid Waste Environmental Management Project (SWEMP) The Solid Waste Environmental Management Project (SWEMP) financed by the World Bank, was for many years the only framework for a plan of action in waste management in areas outside GBA. The project was planned for the entire country excluding GBA and its suburbs. As planned in the National Emergency Reconstruction Program (NERP), the project is designed to help improve the methods of solid waste collection and disposal, improve cost recovery and modernize municipal management and financing systems, as well as strengthen the management capacities of sector institutions. The loan agreement was initially stated at USD 55 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 37

47 million for a three-year period (Law 504, dated 6/9/1995). In 1998, a Project Coordination Unit (PCU) was set up at the MoIM to provide administrative and technical assistance to CDR during project implementation period. The main objectives of the project were: Elimination of hazardous and unsightly dumping of solid waste; Improving solid waste collection and disposal methods; Improving cost recovery and modernization of municipality accounting systems; Improving compost quality and market; Strengthening the role of the MoIM and municipalities in SWM. In general, the project achieved poor results due primarily to political interference, public opposition (NIMBY syndrome) and conflicts with respect to treatment technologies to be used. By December 1999, SWEMP was suspended. However, recent efforts by CDR were underway to salvage and review the loan agreements. Both CDR and World Bank agreed to reduce the loan into about half its original size (USD 25 million). This loan was enough to cover the construction of 3 landfills out of the 10 sanitary landfills originally planned and continue rehabilitating the Hbaline dumpsite. Unfortunately, due to limited progress in implementation, SWEMP was officially closed early Table 3.15 presents the actual achievements under SWEMP. Table Actual Achievements under SWEMP Planned Activities Construction of 10 landfills including Zahle, Baalbeck/Hermel, West Bekaa/Rachaya, Koura, Byblos, Tripoli, Akkar, Tyre, Nabatiyeh, Sidon Construction of two sorting facilities Construction of several transfer stations Closure and rehabilitation of uncontrolled dumps Provision of street cleaning and washing vehicles, as well as waste collection trucks and curbside containers Provision of technical training Implemented Activities One landfill in Zahle One sorting facility in Zahle None None Several vehicles and containers were transferred to municipalities such as Tripoli and Zahle. Baalbeck was due to receive also the equipment but CDR kept it under its custody until the landfill in Baalbeck would be constructed based on the loan agreement for the SWEMP project. Training manual prepared but never disseminated ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 38

48 MOE-National SWM Strategy Based on the recommendations of the national workshop Waste Management strategy for Lebanon which was organized jointly by METAP, MoE, and the World Bank, the Ministry of Environment developed and proposed a national solid waste management strategy (dated 1/7/1999) excluding GBA and its suburbs. The policy recognized the need for combining forces between the key SWM players in the country (i.e. MoE, CDR, MoIM), therefore a committee was formed to follow up on all matters related to solid waste management nationwide. The policy also promoted for the construction of landfills and composting facilities at the Mohafaza level. Although no specific treatment technology was favored (provided it is a proven technology, cost effective, and ISO certified), it is recognized that sanitary landfills will be an integral component of any future strategy. In addition, it recommended the development of a short-term plan for SWM to mitigate the environmental impacts of the current solid waste practices until the adoption of a long-term national strategy for SWM. While several long-term strategies were proposed from waste minimization, source separation, recycling, energy recovery, marketing of by-products and project cost-recovery, no short-term targets or goals were specified in this strategy (MoE/Ecodit, 2001) Community-Based SWM Projects According to Decree No. 118 dating back to 1977, municipalities and /or Union of Municipalities are responsible for waste collection and disposal within their jurisdictions. Sometimes, these municipalities subcontract waste collection to private collectors. In most cases, the waste is being transported and disposed of in nearby open dumps located within the vicinity of the village or town where it is finally burnt. In the absence of a clear and long-term strategy for SWM, several municipalities have initiated individually (or joined efforts with other municipalities) their own waste management projects. In fact, to encourage municipalities initiate SWM projects, the government ratified decree No (16/10/2002) which modified the criteria and baseline for allocating the IMF established in accordance with Decree 1917/1979. The new decree allocates five times the original amount distributed to a municipality if that municipality constructs a landfill or treatment facility on its land or ten times if that landfill or treatment facility serves at least ten other municipalities. However, so far, no municipality has actually benefited from this incentive mainly due to deficiencies in the decree (unclear in how and how often the funds are actually provided to the municipality) and social and technical constraints faced by the municipalities. Instead, several municipalities tend to benefit from international assistance, both on the financial and technical fronts. The main agencies that have been providing such assistance in waste management to rural areas in Lebanon include the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) through its Life program, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and more recently the European Union (EU). Note that all projects usually include a local contribution from the local communities ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 39

49 that could go up to 50 percent of the total project cost. Table 3.16 and Table 3.17 summarize some of the projects that were co-financed by USAID and UNDP, respectively. On July 15, 2003, USAID signed with four American NGOs operating in Lebanon a total contract value amounting to 15.3 musd dedicated to solid waste and wastewater management projects. This program will allow the construction of several solid waste treatment plants across Lebanon (mainly composting plants) together with the implementation of environmental awareness campaigns and sorting at the source programs. Earlier this year (January 7, 2004), the EU, represented by the head of the European Commission in Lebanon, has signed with the GoL, represented by the Minister of State for Administrative Reform, a 10.2 million EURO protocol to finance solid waste management projects in Lebanese municipalities or Unions of Municipalities. The program addresses all types of solid waste (domestic, hospitals, slaughterhouses, agricultural, industrial, markets, etc ) and all stages of the management cycle (collection, sorting out and transfer, recycling, mechanical treatment, biological treatment, thermal treatment, etc.). Table Projects Co-Financed by USAID US NGO Cluster Village Amount Allocated (US$) Remarks YMCA Kfarsyr Kfarsyr 135,000 Akkar el Atika Akkar el Attika 116,000 Bint Jbeil Mays el Jabal 100,000 Includes public awareness campaigns Bint Jbeil - 130,000 Tyre Maarakeh 200,000 CNEWA/PM Tyre Chakra NA Khirbet Silm NA Qabrikha NA Akkar 3 villages NA USDA 416(b) II grant Qlaiaa Borj el Moulouk, Qlaiaa, Deir Mimas, Kfarkila, Oudayseh NA 10 tons/day ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 40

50 Table Projects Co-Financed by the Life Program (UNDP) Bsharre Arab Salim Council for Environmental Protection in Bsharre. The NGO launched in 1996 a management project to sort MSW. Awareness programs encouraged local inhabitants (8,000 in winter and 15,000 in summer) to segregate household waste into two containers (wet and dry waste). Dry waste was then manually sorted. Wet (organic) waste is dumped from roadside (only a few kilometers from the Cedars). Main limitation was the high cost of transporting sorted waste (mainly glass and plastics) to recycling factories (more than 100 km away). Municipality has shown little commitment to sustain the project. Total project cost: US$ 90,000 (including 25,000 LIFE grant) Call of the Land Association. The NGO launched in 1997 a MSW sorting and recycling project, including awareness programs. Plastics, glass and metals are recovered and shipped to recycling factories. Transportation costs are prohibitive. Recycling factories do not always buy the recovered materials. Total project cost: US$ 28,500 (inc. 25,000 LIFE grant). Maghdoucheh Nabatiyeh Environnement Sans Limites. In 1998, the NGO launched a MSW project. It included source separation, recycling and awareness campaigns. Difficulty includes transportation costs. Total project cost: US$ 45,000 (inc. 24,000 LIFE grant). Environmental Protection Council. The NGO launched in May 1997 a SWM project. Project includes management of solid waste through source separation, recycling and awareness campaigns. In all, 107 households, 14 schools, 30 institutions and 30 restaurants and shops took part. Difficulties include technical project management and transportation costs. Total project cost: US$ 69,000 (inc. 25,000 LIFE grant) Two types of proposals from the municipalities will be taken into consideration for funding: The projects that are ready to be implemented; The projects at the concept stage thus requiring complementary technical studies. The project proposals will be examined for their eligibility and then classified by a committee that includes representatives from OMSAR, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, the Council for Development and Reconstruction, and the Delegation of the European Commission who will attend the selection session as an observer. The evaluation committee will be supported by a specialized environmental consulting firm Future Policies and Strategies Currently the government is working on a new law to grant new authorities to municipalities; however, this law has not been ratified yet. In addition, CDR was instructed by the Council of Ministers (CoM) to prepare a national investment program for solid waste management (CoM Decision 16/2003). The program opened the door to private sector bidding allowing entities to submit proposals for more than one region. The bidding arrangement is for 10-year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contracts for landfill services, with the option of also bidding on collection services for each service region. Meanwhile, a technical committee was formed including ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 41

51 representatives from the MoE, MoIM, CDR, and the Directorate General of Urban Planning (DGUP) to identify possible sites for landfills, sorting plants, transfer stations and composting plants on a national scale. The committee has submitted three proposals for site locations to date, but the CoM did not ratify any and requested that the committee revise the proposed site locations and take into consideration public opinion and municipal participation 1. It also charged the Committee to increase the number of treatment sites allowing each Caza to treat its own solid wastes. That same decision assigned CDR the responsibility of launching and awarding an international public tender for an incinerator situated in Beirut within a period of two years. The subsequent decision instructed the committee to revise the site locations of the proposed treatment sites and commence the tendering process 2. Deadlines for the mentioned activities were then extended by CoM under a new decision 3. The latest CoM decision instructed CDR to commence the tenders for SWM on the basis that the participating companies will be responsible to locate the landfill sites and treatment methods DISTRIBUTION AND STATUS OF MAJOR DUMPSITES The main result of the above-described Lebanese context with respect to solid waste management is the multiplication of open dumps throughout the country, where all sorts of wastes (hazardous and non-hazardous) are usually dumped and burned, leading to serious environmental and health problems to the local communities. The country is plagued with at least eight large uncontrolled landfills and countless more village level open dumps. The largest uncontrolled landfills are situated on the shoreline (Saida, Normandy, Borj Hammoud, and Tripoli). Major, sizeable inland uncontrolled landfills include those in Zahle, Tyre, Nabatiyeh and Baalbeck (Figure 3.4). Table 3.18 summarizes the current status of Lebanon s eight largest dumps. Rehabilitation experiences of the Tripoli and Zahle dumps are further described in this section. 1 Decision of the assigned Ministerial Committee 1// The assigned ministerial committee decided to study the proposal report of the technical committee on the treatment and landfilling of municipal waste in Lebanon 2 Decision of the Council of Ministers 22/2004 Requesting the technical committee to review the site location and commence the tendering process. 3 Council of Ministers Decision 12/2004, Amending the deadlines presented in the council of ministers' decision number 22 dated 8/4/2004 concerning starting the bidding for solid waste management in Lebanon. 4 Decision. 68/ The technical committee report number 3 for determining locations for treating and landfilling municipal waste ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 42

52 Tripoli Majdalaya Fakha Hbalin Normandy Bourj-Hammoud Al Taibe Quaranteena Bsalim Aamrousieh Zahle Saida Naameh Legend Rehabilitation or Operation of Dumps Completed On Going Under Preparation Still operational Construction of Landfills Completed / Operational Planned Construction of Transfer station Tyre Completed / Operational On Going Location of Private Recycling Companies Figure 3.4. Map showing location of major dumpsites, landfills and recycling companies Adopted and Modified from the CDR, Final Report, Note: Location and size of the above facilities and sites are not drawn to scale. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 43

53 Table Status of the Major Dumpsites in Lebanon Area Current status Remarks Saida Still operational Plans underway to close it down Normandy Borj Hammoud Tripoli Zahle Baalbeck Closed since A $ 53 million contract signed between US-based Radian and Solidere for Remediation and reclamation works (at $27/tone). Closed since July Rehabilitation included soil cover and gas venting system. Feasibility for gas extraction completed. Dumpsite rehabilitation completed. A sea wall was erected to contain the site. Dumpsite completely closed and the new sanitary landfill with a total capacity of 785,000 tons became fully operational. Existing dump was closed and waste removed completely and relocated in the new sanitary landfill. New facility also includes a sorting plant and a leachate evaporation pond. Still operational. Emits fumes and smoke most of the year. About 75% of the Rehabilitation works have been performed and it is expected to be completed by April m long (seashore); 60-m high. Volume of 4 million m 3 (3.7 million above sea level) Operation of site was contracted to the private sector, at an annual cost of US$1.2 million, financed by the Federation to properly landfill and generated gas management. Decision No. 70 dated on 12/02/2004 to extend the contract for operating the landfill for another 3 years till 31/12/2006, with the collection and transportation cost covered by the Zahle municipalities while treatment and landfilling cost covered from the national budget. No immediate plans to close it. Contracts prepared for the rehabilitation of the Al Kayal dumpsite and construction of the landfill. Nabatiyeh Still operational No immediate plans to close it Tyre Still operational No immediate plans to close it Rehabilitation and Operation of Tripoli Dumpsite The uncontrolled solid waste dump located at the seashore of Tripoli was rehabilitated as part of NERP. The process consisted of constructing a sea wall around it to limit the negative impacts of the leachate generated from the dump on the marine ecosystems. Additionally, equipment needed to operate the dump was procured to improve the SWM in the Tripoli area. In 1999, CDR signed a contract with BATCO for the operation of the dumpsite. The contract is on an annual basis and is financed by the Federation of Al-Fayha Municipalities 5. The contract was to properly landfill incoming waste while extracting and burning of generated gas at a total cost of USD 18.7 per tone. Currently the contract is terminated and the federation is negotiating with the CDR to try to allocate funds for the new contract. 5 Council of Development and Reconstruction, Annual Report ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 44

54 3.5.2 Construction and Operation of Zahle Landfill One of the most important achievements of the SWEMP project was the construction of the Zahle sanitary landfill and one sorting facility near the landfill. The landfill is designed to receive all wastes generated in the Caza of Zahle. In 2001, CDR signed a contract with SERDIM/SCS for the remediation and closure of the old Zahle uncontrolled dumpsite; this included the transfer of the contents of the old dumpsite to the new sanitary landfill, and operating the new facility. The contract was extended for 3 years under Decision No. 70 dated on 12/02/2004. In addition, equipment and vehicles needed for the SWM in the area were procured. The total landfill capacity is 785,000 tons with a 14 years life expectancy (or around 40,000 tons per year) and a total cost ranging between USD 20 and 26 per tone (CDR, 2003) Estimated Quantity of MSW Generated since 1982 In an attempt to evaluate the magnitude of the open dumping practices in Lebanon since 1982, and to estimate the quantities of wastes that were dumped throughout these years, several assumptions were adopted (Table 3.19): The assessment extends from 1982 till 1997, i.e. a fifteen year interval (period) of open dumping; 1997 represents the year prior to the opening of the first sanitary landfill (Naameh); The low range of 0.75 kg/day/capita of solid waste generation for urban areas and 0.5 kg/day/capita for rural areas was adopted; An average annual population growth rate of 0.9 percent is taken from 1982 to 1997 (UNDP, 2001); In 1982, the population was about 2,981,234 million Lebanese inhabitants; From 1982 till 1991, 67 percent of the Lebanese population were or are assumed urban, and 33 percent were rural (UNDP, 2001); From 1992 till 1997, 90 percent of the Lebanese population is assumed urban and 10 percent rural (UNDP, 2001). ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 45

55 Table Estimation of Total Solid Waste Generation from 1982 to 1997 YEAR Population 2,981,234 3,008,065 3,035,137 3,062,454 3,090,016 3,117,826 3,145,886 3,174,199 67% Urban Kg/year/individual Total Urban 547,294, ,220, ,190, ,205, ,265, ,370, ,521, ,719,452 33% rural Kg/year/individual Total Rural 180,036, ,657, ,291, ,941, ,606, ,276, ,717, ,188,539 Total Waste (kg) 727,331, ,877, ,482, ,146, ,871, ,647, ,238, ,907,992 Total Waste (tons) 727, , , , , , , ,908 YEAR Population 3,202,767 3,231,592 3,260,676 3,290,022 3,319,633 3,349,509 3,279,655 3,410,072 67% Urban ,934,608 2,961,020 2,987,670 3,014,558 2,951,690 3,069,065 Kg/year/individual Total Urban 587,963, ,255, ,082, ,319, ,621, ,988, ,762, ,923,755 33% rural , , , , , ,007 Kg/year/individual Total Rural 392,691, ,225,495 59,670,371 60,207,403 60,749,284 61,296,015 60,017,687 62,404,318 Total Waste (kg) 980,655, ,481, ,753, ,526, ,370, ,284, ,780, ,328,073 Total Waste (tons) 980, , , , , , , ,328 Total Waste Around 13.8 million tons of solid wastes discarded Note: These values are not official results, but derived solely for this report ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 46

56 Based on the above assumptions, the total amount of waste generated in 15 years, from 1982 to 1997, was estimated to be around 13,836,685 tons. Noting the amount of solid wastes dumped in Normandy to be approximately 2,007,500 tons, and which are currently being processed (Dames and Moore, 1994) (amount calculated using a minimum of 500 tons/day dumped in Normandy from 1975 to 1993), a total estimated amount of 11,836,685 million tons of solid waste were disposed prior to 1997 and were still not rehabilitated. Out of this total, around 4 million tons of solid wastes are located on the Bourj Hammoud Landfill (from 1982 to 1990, 1.5 million tons of solid wastes were dumped, while an additional 2.5 million tons were dumped from 1991 to 1997) FINANCIAL AND COST RECOVERY CONSIDERATIONS SWM in Lebanon has yet to develop into a cost-effective national plan, categorized by competitiveness, accountability, and transparency. An integral part of SWM are issues concerning full cost accounting and cost recovery, where the former indicates the full cost or price of a complete SWM plan, and the latter indicates mechanisms to obtain funds from households, commercial institutions, industries and others to fund such a plan. However, the poor economic situation in Lebanon, categorized by a hefty public debt and a large public sector draining the national budget, forbids the government of undergoing textbook costrecovery mechanisms for SWM services, and leaves it only with tactical approaches as opposed to strategic ones. As part of the Lebanese context for SWM, this section reviews the current taxing and charging mechanisms in the country and the overall affordability of Lebanese society towards SWM, which will form the basis to propose financing and costrecovery strategies in the new Law Overview of the Macroeconomic Government Situation Appendix B summarizes the financial situation of the GoL by showing the operations of the Lebanese central government, from tax collection rates, to annual revenues, expenditure and deficits, which are integral to the financial assessment of SWM policies. The information in Appendix B indicates that the government has reached its limits in national taxation and borrowing capacity. The former could be revealed by the current social situation and reaction(s) to any increases in taxes, and the latter is revealed by the already extensive public debt (exceeding 174 percent of 2003 GDP, or USD 32 billion). Furthermore, the government s revenues are severely limited after taking into account debt service (around 50 percent of total government expenditure in 2003) and public salaries, wages, subsidies and transfers (42 percent of total government expenditure in 2003). In the 2004 Draft Budget Law, personnel costs (salaries, wages, related benefits, pensions, and end of service indemnities) represent 37 percent of the total funds, enumerated in the budget, and 47 percent to service the public debt. These fractions of the total government expenditure are not flexible and cannot be tampered with as long as they are present. What is left for the government of Lebanon is only between 10 and 20 percent of its total revenues to spend on various infrastructure and environmental issues, or an average of 15 percent of total revenues (or around USD 660 to 670 million only in 2003). Given the wide range of requirement for infrastructure provision such as water and sewage networks ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 47

57 (construction and maintenance, C&M), the Lebanese road network (C&M) and their respective land acquisitions, and hardware military expenditures among other spending, USD 660 to 670 million (or around percent of GDP) may not be sufficient Overview of the Lebanese Socioeconomic Situation Lebanon has had a wide disparity between its center (Beirut in specific) and its periphery. In , the richest 4 percent among the Lebanese appropriated 32 percent of the national income, while the poor constituted 50 percent of the population, including 9 percent considered as wretched (UNDP, 2001). In the 1960s, the State began to pay increasing attention and dealt with the existing socioeconomic disparities. Polices and plans implemented were partly successful in reducing the intensity of the disparities, and initiated the emergence of a middle class prior to the start of the civil war. The richest 4 percent owned 20 percent of national income in the 1970s, a welcome drop from the 1960s. However, social disparities continued, as the share of the poorest one-third of the population did not exceed 10 percent of gross product, whereas the richest one-sixth percent of the population was more than half (UNDP, 2001). Data on purchasing power and family classification are provided in Table 3.20 and Table From a socioeconomic perspective, the Lebanese war that raged for 15 years resulted in a minimum drop of gross domestic product to 40 percent, caused the displacement of 800,000 citizens (destroyed 170,000 housing units), and caused rampant inflation, and the near-complete deterioration of the Lebanese infrastructure. Table Purchasing Power Percent Changes for Various Classes in Lebanon (UNDP, 2001) Class Annual purchasing power changes (%) from High Income Class Middle Income Class Low Income Class Table Family Classification as Percentage of Total Population Low income group Middle income group High Income group ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 48

58 In post-war Lebanon (based on a 1998 CAS 6 survey), the average monthly household income in Lebanon amounted to LL1.5 million (average size of household is 4.8) with significant variations between the Mohafazats (Table 3.22). This estimate is highly variable, with a range of L.L. 1 million (around $US650) in the Mohafazat of Nabatiyeh, to LL 2 million (around US$1,300) in Beirut. Statistics indicated furthermore that 37.1% of household stated that their income was not adequate, and 30.6% stated an obligation to borrow to balance their budgets. Mohafaza Table Population Estimates and Average Household Size CAS Population Estimates (1997) SOER population Estimate (2001) Beirut 403, , Mount Lebanon 1,507,559 1,606, North 807, , Bekaa 539, , South 472, , Nabatiyieh 275, , Total 4,005,025 4,267, Average household size (1996) In the absence of willingness to pay (WTP) studies, regarding the WTP of various Lebanese citizens for SWM services, the following approach is used: a. Assess the Distribution of households based on average monthly income and Mohafazat of residence; b. Assess yearly revenue of households based on average monthly income; c. Affordability: assess potential yearly revenue of households spent on SWM services based on average monthly income. Appendix C presents the affordability calculation (estimation) approach above for Lebanon. The annual cost of a complete and efficient national solid waste program in Lebanon is possibly in the range of 43.2 to million USD per annum (World Bank Benchmark) 7. This range will be confirmed once the economic model being developed by the consultants is finalized. The affordability to Lebanese society is in the range of about USD 78 to 178 million per year (or an average of about USD 90 to 210 per household per year which varies considerably across regions), concluded from multiplying the benchmark range of % (of average income devoted to SWM) with the various households with various income levels. This amounts to about 0.4 to 1.0% of the Lebanese GDP. 6 Central Administration of Statistics, Republic of Lebanon million tons of municipal solid waste is generated per year in Lebanon, multiplied thus by the range of middle-income countries of US$30 US$70/ton of collection, disposal and treatment of MSWs. The precise amount for the Republic of Lebanon is to be verified by the economic model prepared by Tebodin. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 49

59 3.6.3 Current Funding Sources for SWM Services Presently, there are several methods for funding MSW services in Lebanon, namely (i) the National Budget, (ii) IMF/Municipal Federation, and (iii) Municipalities own funds The National Budget Revenues for the national budget (2003 figures) are indicated in Table 3.23 along with the respective expenditure and public deficit (further elaborated in Appendix B). Most of the government tax revenue comes from income tax, tariffs on goods and services (other than VAT), Value Added Tax (VAT), and property taxes. Most of the revenue goes into servicing the public debt and salaries for public servants, inducing yearly budget deficits (almost 15% of GDP in 2003). However, options to fund SWM services in Lebanon from the National Budget need to be considered, specifically because SWM is inevitably to become a major priority (due to reaching the capacity limit of the Naameh landfill, among other factors). The National Budget should always account for SWM, especially when the earmarked charges, if any, fail to cover the full cost of SWM. Table Revenue Classification of the Lebanese Government 2003 Budget Law In Billions of Lebanese Lira 2003 Budget Law In Billions of Lebanese Lira A- Tax Revenues 4,726 Current Expenditures 8,820 Income, Profits & Capital Tax 1,000 Personnel cost 3,078 Tax on Properties 400 Debt service 4,874 VAT 1,100 Other current 868 Remaining internal tariffs on goods and services 1,196 Capital expenditures 713 B- Non-Tax Revenues 1,749 Other treasury expenditures 1,058 Proceeds from public administrations & institutions Proceeds from other state properties Beirut International Airport Revenues 1,180 Total expenditures 10, Budgetary revenues 6, Budgetary expenditures 8,810 Communications 1,050 Fines and seizures 27 % of GDP Total deficit 14.52% ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 50

60 Revenues for Municipalities, Law 118 (30,06/77) Municipal Law 118 dated 30/06/1977 addresses the mechanisms by which municipalities sustain their budgets. The municipality budget consists of: - Direct charges collected by municipalities; - Charges (revenues) collected by the Central Government or the independent organizations, or public institutions and re-distributed to each municipality; - Revenues collected by Central Government for all municipalities; - Grants and loans; - Revenues from municipal property rentals; - Fines or penalties; - Donations. Revenues collected by the central government on behalf of the municipalities are placed in the Independent Municipal Fund (IMF) within the Lebanese Central Bank. Proceeds from the IMF to the various municipalities is undertaken with the consultation of the Lebanese State Council, according to standards and criteria set by a decree from the Council of Ministers, specifically upon suggestions from the ministers of finance and interior. Most of the IMF proceeds are redistributed to municipalities in the following way: 25 percent of the stated IMF proceeds are allocated to Municipal Unions (MUs) in the following manner: 25 percent of the total allocated to MUs is given on the basis of or in correlation with population estimates within each union. 75 percent is allocated for specific developmental projects or earmarked. 75 percent of total stated IMF money is allocated to the various Lebanese municipalities according to the following: 70 percent (of total IMF 75%) is given according to the following criteria: - 60 percent given to all municipalities based on population estimates - 40 percent given to municipalities based on actual received charges collected by each municipality over a two-year past period. 30 percent is allocated or earmarked for development projects, especially rural ones. Decree number 9093 (15/11/2002) further stipulates that any municipality that constructs a sanitary landfill or solid waste treatment facility (within its jurisdiction) will secure five times its share from the IMF. Moreover, if any municipality constructs a sanitary landfill or solid waste treatment facility for itself and at least ten other municipalities will get ten times its share from the IMF proceeds. However, the decree is ambiguous in its formulation, and the proof is that so far no municipality was able to benefit from the said incentives. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 51

61 Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities received transfers totaling USD 420 million for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999, or a yearly amount of around USD 140 million (MoE/Ecodit, 2001). Note that the total amount disbursed for municipalities and unions of municipalities from the years 1993 to 1996 was around USD 33 million only. Proceeds for the IMF are primarily nourished from charges (taxes) on basic services such as electricity and telephone bills (Table 3.23). Based on the above-mentioned revenue (USD $140 per annum), the IMF by Law had to divide its budget allocation as shown in Figure 3.5. Funding municipalities sufficiently is of utmost importance in order to stimulate local economy, mitigate and reverse rural-urban migration and is at the heart of good governance. However, reality does not follow the allocation stipulated by Law above, as most of the revenues received by the IMF goes to fund Sukkar group s waste management operations in the Greater Beirut Area. Figure 3.5. Theoretical Allocation of the IMF Fund to Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities Collection of Property Taxes Total taxation of properties in Lebanon generated the government revenues equal to USD million in 2003 and a projected USD in It is acknowledged that the collection rate of property taxes per annum in Lebanon is deficient. Thereby, improving collection rates (e.g. by using the Lebanese mandatory military service enrollments for collection) to ensure payment by all households (both payment and payment on time) will increase revenues from property taxes considerably. The collected revenue will undoubtedly do considerably well to help fund SWM services. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 52

62 Grants and Loans Grants are not to be excluded from funding solid waste services in Lebanon. USAID, the European Union, the World Bank, and transfers from friendly states/municipalities among others, are all potential sources of grants and have been providing sources of funds, directly or indirectly, to Lebanese municipalities. Loans are another source of fund that are particularly attractive if given with a long-time frame (and low interest) in mind, and/or attached to some cost-recovery mechanism condition. Note that once there is a solid and comprehensive legal framework for SWM which invites the private sector to invest, there is a higher possibility for international financial institutions to provide the government of Lebanon with long-term loans The Financial Legacy of Past Solid Waste Disposal An important aspect of the previous policies and practices in SWM that is addressed in this section is the financial burden that was left out for the future generations due to past mismanagement of solid wastes. The total amount of waste discarded (open dumping) in 15 years, from 1982 to 1997, was estimated to be around 13.8 million tons of solid wastes ( 3.5.3). The amount of solid waste dumped in Normandy is 2.0 million tons, which are being treated, and around 4 million tons of solid wastes are located on the Bourj Hammoud Landfill. In Normandy, it cost USD 55 million to remedy 2 million tons of waste, while in Bourj Hammoud it would cost USD million to remedy 4 millions tons. From these figures it can be roughly estimated that it costs around USD 27 per ton to remedy solid wastes in Normandy, while it would cost USD per ton for solid wastes at Bourj Hammoud, which depends largely on the rehabilitation option chosen. Note that at Bourj Hammoud economies-of-scale are at stake, while most of the open dumping that occurred is in smaller and scattered dumps throughout Lebanon. Thus the range of USD would give an under-estimation of the costs/ton of treatment. Thereby, for smaller dumps, the costs/ton treatment of open dumps would be assumed to be between USD 5 10 per ton remedied. Thereby, the in-situ treatment costs of solid wastes would be used to assess the cost of open dumping: - 4 million tons (at Bourj Hammoud) x $2.5 - $3.75/ton = $US10 - $US15 million tons (total for 15 years) x $5 - $10/ton = $US39 - $US78 million Therefore as a preliminary estimation, it would cost between USD 49 and USD 93 million to remedy old open dumps scattered around the country. However, open dumping did not cease post-1997, as 38 percent of total generated solid wastes in Lebanon still were dealt with in this fashion. To assess the amount, it is assumed that 1.44 million tons of wastes are produced/year, thereby from , around 10 million tons of municipal solid wastes were generated in Lebanon and 3.83 million tons were discarded in open dumps. Taking the $5 - $10/ton range, these practices would cost the GoL an additional USD to USD 38.3 million to remedy. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 53

63 Overall, open dumping practices (from ), would need an investment ranging from USD to USD million to remedy. Table 3.24 simulates a 10-year plan to remedy past open dumping practices. Table Investment (US$) Requirements to Deal with Open Dumping Old Practices from (and over 10 year period) Discount Rates Total US$ (millions) Total US$ (millions) Amount/year (millions) Amount/year (millions) Minimum Maximum Minimum Maximum 0% $ $ $6.83 $ % $ $ $10.12 $ % $ $ $14.75 $28.43 Thereby, taking a zero percent discount, it would cost the Lebanese household (assuming a fixed 864,825 households present) between USD 7.9 to 15 per household (average USD 11.5 per household) per year for a ten year period to remedy old dumping. This is a low-bound estimate because it presumes a 0% discount rate. 4. THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK LAW ON SWM IN LEBANON 4.1. OVERALL RATIONALE The proposed draft law on Integrated Waste Management (IWM) in the Republic of Lebanon was developed taking into account a diverse array of constraints and criteria. In addition to environmental and technical factors, social and economic aspects formed the foundations upon which the law was developed. Moreover, since the law aimed at establishing a sustainable waste management framework, a deliberate attempt was made to encourage private sector participation and establish viable financing and cost recovery mechanisms. Input from stakeholders proved invaluable in determining the institutional framework of the law. On the other hand, a firm grasp on both the national and international waste management legislation, in addition to local and worldwide experience in establishing legislation rendered the process more effective. Finally, flexibility of the law was also amongst the constraints in the attempt to plan for unexpected occurrences and scientific discoveries in the future. Criteria and constraints of significance for the development of the Law are shown in Figure 4.1. A draft copy of the framework Law is available in Appendix D. Please note that the draft presented is a preliminary proposed version of the law and is currently being both developed and translated into Arabic to incorporate the Lebanese legislative context. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 54

64 Research on International & Local Legislation Flexibility Input from Stakeholders Encouraging Private Sector Participation Integrated Waste Management Law Lessons learnt from Past Social and Economic Factors Financing and Cost Recovery Environmental Considerations Figure 4.1. Criteria and Constraints of Significance for the Development of the IWM Law 4.2. KEY ELEMENTS OF THE LAW This section describes in more detail key elements of the law that form the backbone of waste management, other than the basic principles most of which were already formulated in Law 444/2002. These issues include the classification of wastes, waste management responsibilities, waste management planning, information management, private sector participation and financing and cost recovery mechanisms Classification of Wastes The wastes classification proposed to be adopted in the draft Law is based on: 1) the characteristics of the waste and its impact on the environment and human health and 2) its management infrastructure. The decision on the method by which to address wastes entailed research on the major waste generators and waste streams in Lebanon (Figure 4.2) in addition to the waste management infrastructure (Appendix E). Additionally, extensive research was conducted on the waste classification adopted in international legislation. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 55

65 Figure 4.2. List of Sources of Waste As a result, the classification system shown in Figure 4.3 was selected due to its coherence with the terms and nomenclatures adopted in both existing and newly proposed Lebanese Legislation, specifically the proposed Ministry of Environment Standard Decree of Application on the Classification of Hazardous and Industrial Waste and their Management, as well as the decree on Health Care Waste Management. Figure 4.3. Proposed Waste Classification System ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 56

66 4.2.2 Waste Management Responsibilities For successful implementation of integrated waste management, the roles and responsibilities of all the parties involved need to be very well defined. In Lebanon, this hindered the development of the institutional framework to a certain extent due to the tendency to merge responsibilities in Lebanese legislation in an effort to avoid political barriers and protest. Although analysis of the waste situation indicated the need for an independent solid waste management board or committee, a vast majority of the stakeholders advised against this under the assumption that the establishment of such a board would be declined by the Lebanese Government in its attempt to curb spending and minimize the creation of the entities. The establishment of such a board, with members from relevant stakeholders including the private sector, would help overcome complications such as conflict of interest in waste management responsibilities, in addition to the overburdening of under-prepared agencies with waste management responsibilities, and creating a practical mechanism for public participation in decision-making. However, upon the recommendations of the stakeholders, the law does not request the establishment of a waste management board. The responsibilities of waste management fall on existing public agencies as well as the private sector as proposed in Table 4.1. Entity Table 4.1. Summary of Proposed Wastes Management Responsibilities Responsibilities MoE Developing National Waste Strategy Developing Waste Management Plans Supervision and inspection of compliance Authorization of waste management plans, facilities, and waste generators Information management MoIM Developing National Municipal Non-hazardous Waste Plan Coordinating and assisting in the development and implementation of local waste management plans for municipal non-hazardous wastes Local Authorities Proposing and implementing local waste management plans for nonhazardous municipal waste CDR Assisting in the implementation of waste management plans specifically in the procurement process upon request Private Sector / the Public Abiding by laws, regulations and guidelines on waste management, Prohibition of littering, illegal bumping and burning Participating in the development and implementation of local waste management plans Preparation of facility and generator waste management plans ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 57

67 4.2.3 Waste Management Planning Planning for waste management is a multifaceted process (Figure 4.4). It begins with the agreement on the objectives and principles of waste management as is set in the waste management policy. The waste management policy of the Republic of Lebanon is stated in the Law, as it constitutes the most basic principles upon which the legal and institutional frameworks are based. For example, principles such as protection of the environment, hierarchy in waste management, proximity principle, precautionary principle, producer s responsibility and polluter pays principle constitute the waste management policy. Practical Guidelines, Targets and Tools to apply the principles POLICY STRATEGY Basic Principles Tools for implementing the Plan NATIONAL AND LOCAL PLANS PROGRAMS Application of Strategy: implementation and financial schedule for the existing situation taking into consideration social and economic constraints. Figure 4.4. Waste Management Policy, Strategy, Plan and Program A waste management strategy renders the policy applicable by supplying decision makers with direction in terms of targets and tools to use in waste management. The strategy determines for example: Why waste services need to be improved (assessment of the existing waste management status to determine where the needs lie); Where waste services should be in15-20 years; How services are to be improved: Defining realistic waste management performance goals and targets; Establishing roles and responsibilities for waste management; Basic Guidelines for the management of all waste types; When services will reach certain goals. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 58

68 This step is popularly considered as the first phase of the national plan in international legislation. In brief, establishing the strategy requires: Assessment of the existing waste management status to determine where the needs lie; Defining realistic waste management performance goals and targets; Establishing roles and responsibilities for waste management; Basic Guidelines for the management of all waste types. The strategy is realized through national and local waste plans that take the planning process one step further with the development of financial and implementation schedules. Table 4.2 depicts the differences between waste strategy and waste management plans. Table 4.2. Waste Strategy Vs. Plan Strategy Goals and Objectives of Waste Management Based on policy Broad roles and responsibilities Basis for management of waste streams (infrastructure) Sets targets for waste collection and transport, processing, treatment and disposal Determines public awareness requirements Determines means of private sector participation Plan Actions to be taken to fulfill the targets / goals Based on strategy Immediate and long-term action plan Feasibility studies for technical options covering: collection & transport, sorting, storage, processing, treatment and disposal Plans cover: - Institutional and organizational development - Services / facilities development - Financial management and cost recovery - Public awareness and participation Includes an investment plan Sets timetable for implementation The national waste management plan is a critical element of the planning process that serves as a guideline for the implementation of waste management. Its main aim is to: Assess general need for WM services and infrastructure facilities across Lebanon; Assess the installation of an integrated waste management network; Determine a flexible operational and financial timetable for waste management networks implemented through Local Waste Management Plans; Define activities undertaken by the local authorities with regards to waste management; Arrange for support in implementation of the waste management including training, awareness and information management; ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 59

69 Estimate the costs for the operations of waste processing and disposal; Estimate financing and cost recovery schedules; Develop an appropriate incentive scheme as an integral component of the National Waste Management Plan; Local waste management plans are detailed implementation timeframes that are proposed to and approved by competent authorities and are based on national waste management plans. They are developed in the collaboration of the private sector and with assistance from the relevant public agency (MoIM in the case of municipal non-hazardous waste). Local waste management plans: Determine the implementation of an integrated waste management network in the local context according to the national plan; Determine a detailed operational timetable for waste collection, processing and disposal networks, cost recovery and public education; Estimate the costs for the operations of waste management. Waste Programs are tools that help implement Waste Plans. They can be: Programs to provide technical and other capability building assistance and support to local authorities in the development and implementation of Local Plans; Programs for waste reduction and at source segregation including separation of special waste components; Programs for encouragement of composting and bioconversion of biodegradable waste; Programs for education and raising of awareness of the citizen of waste generation and management; Figure 4.5 and Table 4.3 summarize how the above-described planning process will be applied in the context of the republic of Lebanon. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 60

70 MUNICIPAL WASTE HAZARDOUS, INERT, SPECIAL WASTE MoE WM Strategy Strategy: Means to Achieve WM Policy (guidelines, targets)) MoIM MoE National Municipal WM Plan National Hazardous / Special / Inert WM Plan National Plan: General implementation and operation schedules APPROVAL Tendering Local Authorities: Municipalities and/or Clusters / Unions Local Municipal WM Plan Waste Generators, Facility Operators or Service Providers Local Plans: Detailed implementation and operation schedules Figure 4.5. Process of Waste Management Planning Table 4.3. Summary of Planning Process Activity National Strategy Duration 10 yrs, (standard decree) Planning Agency MoE Implementing Agency All waste generators, service providers, facility operators, and relevant authorities Evaluation Upon renewal Monitoring Agency N/A National Waste Plan Municipal NH Waste 5 yrs MoIM with MoE approval Local Authorities with Private Sector Annual by MoIM GoL National Waste Plan Other waste 5 yrs MoE CDR / Private Sector Annual by MoE GoL Local Municipal NH Waste Plans Waste Programs 3 yrs N/A Local Authorities with assistance of MoIM and consultant Approved by MoE MoE / MoIM / Local Authorities Local Authorities with Private Sector MoE / MoIM / Local Authorities / NGO s / Public institutions By Local Authorities upon Renewal N/A MoE and MoIM N/A ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 61

71 4.2.4 Information Management The efficient management of wastes goes hand in hand with accurate data and information on the existing and future status of waste generation. In fact, the planning process relies heavily on waste management data in the attempt to discover the domains that require assistance on both the short-term and the long-term. Therefore, the IWM law addressed information management in a clear and flexible way. Figure 4.6 depicts the information management as requested in the IWM Law. An information system would organize the information and provide the public with transparent and accurate data (publications) on: Quantity and quality of generated waste; Waste management from scientific and expert organizations; Records of waste management facilities and service providers; A list of the waste generators Private Sector Participation Basic Principles Behind Privatization Privatization in essence leads to managing liabilities, improving efficiency, cutting costs or debt, improving access to capital accountability. Privatizing SWM services will undoubtedly lead to a better service provision. Figure 4.7 illustrates some PSP methods (contract, concession, franchise, open competition). 8 Public goods (e.g. national defense) are consumed jointly and are nonexclusive. Private goods (store-bought items) are consumed individually, and the producer can deny the good to the consumer until payment. To be economically viable, toll goods (e.g. cable television) are like private goods, in that some people can be excluded from benefiting, and like public goods, in that they need to be provided to a collective group of beneficiaries. Common-pool goods are those for which consumption is not joint and to which access is non-excludable. For pure public goods (collective goods), which can not exclude any potential user within the service area, contracting and concession are the most appropriate methods of private sector participation. On the other hand, toll goods can be exclusive, thus franchise and open competition are appropriate methods. For activities between private goods and toll ones, contract, franchise, and open competition are appropriate methods. For pure private goods, open competition is the most appropriate method of private sector participation. This characterization for SWM services is indicated in Figure UNDP, UNCHS, World Bank, Urban Management Programme, PSP in Municipal Solid Waste Services in Developing Countries, Volume 1., The Formal Sector. 9 UNDP, UNCHS, World Bank, Urban Management Programme ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 62

72 Waste Facility Operators / Service Providers / Specified Waste Generators Supervise Inspect with Dabitta El- Aadliah MoE GoL Annual evaluation of Waste Management Plans Self Monitoring & Record Keeping Monthly Report Submit Facility / Generator Waste Management Plans + Annual Report Submit Local Authorities MoIM INFORMATION SYSTEM Quantity and Quality of Generated Wastes Waste Management Information: Standards, Guidelines, Criteria, List of Hazardous Waste,.. Publish Complaints PUBLIC Records of Waste Facility Operators, and Service Providers Public Awareness List of Waste Generators Figure 4.6. Diagram of Waste Monitoring and Information Management ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 63

73 Figure 4.7. Private Sector Arrangements in Solid Waste Management Figure 4.8. Public versus Private Goods in Solid Waste Management ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 64

74 The advantages of a competitive PSP are summarized as follows: - Easier access to specialist skills. In addition companies can form joint ventures, pooling thereby skills and expertise. - Better access to capital financing which in turn enables the private sector to mobilize appropriate equipment and other resources quickly. - Private sector companies are less restricted by bureaucratic procedures and more able to concentrate resources where they are needed. - Private sector operators are motivated by competition and by the need to comply with the required standards as set out in contractual agreements. - Private sector managers more or less have more direct control over who is their work force, how they should work and how employees are paid. Disadvantages of PSP potentially may fall on social impacts, specifically on employment that has political implications. A thorough social assessment is required to assess the implications of privatization of the solid waste sector and mechanisms to remedy or compensate those affected by the privatization move are recommended. The successful implementation of PSP approach depends on the existence of a legal framework that covers areas such as procurement and contracting of appropriate contract models, adequate contract durations and fair allocation of responsibility and risk, and clearly defined financing and cost recovery mechanisms. The choice of the contract model is an essential step in the privatization process. There are several main types of contracts models, namely (Table 4.4): - Service contracts, which are typically used for waste collection, waste transfer and operation of landfills for a period of one to eight years. - Design, build, operate (DBO) contracts that combine design, construction and operation for years of a facility such as sanitary landfill, treatment plants and transfer stations. - Build, operate, transfer (BOT) and build, own, operate (BOO) contract, that are similar to DBO contracts but leave ownership of the facility and obligations for financing with the contractor. - Franchise, where work is delegated over a defined area and for a fixed period of time, targeting charges directly to consumers. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 65

75 Option Table 4.4. Options and Characteristics of Several Contracts Asset Ownership Operation and Maintenance Capital Investment Commercial Risk Duration Service-Contract Public Private Public Public 1-2 years up to 5-8 years Management Contract Public Private/ Public Public Public 3-5 years BTO or DBO Public Private Public Shared years Concession (including fee collection) Public Private Private Private years BOO Private Private Private Private years Divestiture Private or Private and Public Private Private Private Indefinite (may be limited by license) The first step in order to engage in PSP in an efficient and effective manner is to identify the areas, services and tasks that need to be contracted out. In the short run the private sector should be engaged for services which can immediately be undergone better, such as waste collection and operation of landfill. In the long-run the implementation of major investment projects, where one contractor can take the responsibility and guarantee design, implementation and operation, needs to be identified. Crucial items that have to be addressed are the contract period, scope of the agreement and technical specifications, measurement and payment (unit prices), application of penalties and incentives, guarantees (performance bond), and allocation of risks (risk analysis required). Cost effective and adequate service standards can only be reached by creating effective competition among several private sector contractors within the framework of an attractive marketplace. Competition is integral for the success of PSP as it forces the private sector to offer efficient and cost-effective services, as is transparency (clearly written financial and technical items and evaluation criteria in the bidding documents). Moreover, accountability for both the public and the private sector must be realized to ensure a better performance in front of the public s eye. Continuous monitoring thereby is a prerequisite to establish a proper basis for evaluating efficiency, effectiveness, and cost of service delivery Proposed Mechanism of PSP in the Framework Law Waste management projects, including services, and construction and operation of infrastructure facilities, can be proposed by the private sector in collaboration with local authorities through local municipal waste management plans, or in collaboration with waste generators through waste management plans of inert, special, and hazardous wastes as illustrated in Figure 4.9. The principles for adequate and efficient private sector participation enumerated above were, to the extent possible, incorporated in the proposed Law. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 66

76 Municipal Non-hazardous Waste Special, Inert, Hazardous Waste Local Authorities and MoIM Cooperate PRIVATE SECTOR Bidding Hazardous / Inert / Special Waste National Plan Local Municipal WM Plan Approved Approved Awarding Contract IMPLEMENTAION OF WASTE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS: Provision of WM Services or Construction / Operation / Maintenance / Repair / Expansion of Waste Infrastructure Awarding Contract Figure 4.9. Diagram of Private Sector Participation Financing, Cost Recovery Mechanisms and Incentives One of the major aims of the financing and recovery component of the law was to encourage private sector participation. This involved setting up a legal financing framework for the types of waste management projects, legitimate cost recovery schemes to ensure profitability to the private sector, in addition to fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Moreover, the financing and cost recovery mechanisms proposed in this law and in subsequent cost recovery application decree are based on three general principles: 1. The source generating the waste should pay for its management; 2. The cost of management should reflect the quantity and quality of waste generated; 3. The producers (manufacturers and importers) have a responsibility that extends to the products they introduce. The following sections review current and potential sources for financing SWM services in Lebanon as well as possible cost recovery mechanisms. The last paragraph also proposes possible incentives The National Budget Revenues for the national budget (2003 figures) are indicated in Table 3.23 along with the respective expenditure and public deficit (Appendix B). As noted in section , most of the government tax revenue comes from income tax, tariffs on goods and services (other than VAT), Value Added Tax (VAT), and property taxes. Most of the revenue goes into servicing the public debt and salaries for public servants, inducing yearly budget deficits (15 percent of ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 67

77 GDP in 2003). However, options to fund SWM services in Lebanon from the National Budget have to be considered, specifically because SWM is inevitably to become a major priority (due to reaching the capacity limit of the Naameh landfill, among other things). The National Budget should always account for SWM, especially when the earmarked charges fail to cover the full cost of SWM Tapping on the VAT The Value-Added Tax is possibly (indirectly) the most significant tax concerning solid waste generation, as it is a progressive tax related directly to household consumption. The VAT (10 percent flat rate) generates revenues for the government of at least USD 800 million/year (Table 3.23 and Appendix B). In other words, Lebanese households and commercial (among others) consumption amounts to USD 8 billion/year. Increasing VAT from 10% to % will yield the GoL additional revenues, yet may not be socially acceptable. If the increase in VAT is rewritten as a charge on the collected VAT imposed on the suppliers or retailers (e.g. 5% charge on total VAT of good sold), then out of the USD 800 million/year collected by the VAT, USD 40,000,000 (theoretically excluding income and other effects) may be collected from suppliers, i.e. linking suppliers to the amount they vend. This will entail the same revenue for the GoL as increasing the VAT, however it targets the charge on producers or retailers, not on consumers. This too, however, may be socially unacceptable, yet considering or studying it should be left as an option Revenues for Municipalities, Law 118 (30/06/77) Funding municipalities sufficiently is of utmost importance in order to stimulate local economy, mitigate and reverse rural-urban migration and is at the heart of good governance. As discussed in section , most of the revenues received by the IMF are directed to fund Sukleen s operations in the Greater Beirut Area. It should be a priority in the government s policy to ensure that funds are properly allocated to municipalities to allow them finance their waste management and other activities. It is to be noted that the draft Law for municipalities currently being reviewed by the parliament would normally give more independence to municipalities, and allow them to collect additional fees to fund municipal services, including solid waste management Tapping on and Improving Collection of Property Taxes Total taxation of properties in Lebanon generated the government revenues equal to USD million in 2003 and a projected USD in While it is acknowledged that the collection rate of property taxes per annum in Lebanon is deficient, improving collection rates (e.g. by using the Lebanese mandatory military service enrollments for collection of the taxes) to ensure payment by all households (both payment and payment on time) will increase revenues from property taxes considerably. The collected revenue will undoubtedly do considerably well to help fund SWM services. If property taxing collection rates are left static, generating revenue between USD 230 and 270 million per annum, then increasing the property tax rate to fund SWM services is an option that has to be reviewed. This is especially the case in Lebanon, where a further increase in taxes on a national level will potentially have serious socioeconomic ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 68

78 repercussions and may not be feasible, yet earmarked charges on a local level could be more acceptable to people in conformity with their respective municipality. If the benchmark of 0.75 to 1.7 percent (depending on Mohafaza) of average income devoted to SWM services is taken for minimum wage (set for all households across Lebanon), then Table 4.5 summarizes the additional revenues that may be collected, potentially as an additional item on property tax. Table 4.5. Tapping on Property Taxes based on Minimum Wage Mohafaza Beirut Suburbs of Beirut Mount Lebanon The North The South Nabatiyeh Bekaa Minimum Wage/ Year US$ % Devoted to SWM US$ devoted to SWM/ household/ year Number of Households existing Sub-Total amount delegated to SWM Total Lebanon (US$) % 0.75% 1.7% 0.75% 0.75% 0.75% 0.75% ,840 59, , , ,800 61, ,750 1,223,440 1,074,420 13,721,060 3,225,420 1, ,110,340 2,155,500 24,396,580 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 69

79 New Taxes or Charges New charges or taxes should be considered for funding solid waste management in Lebanon, such as: Product Charges The Lebanese government has to look into charging specifically products an extra fee for SWM services, especially products that are cumbersome in their management. For example, the responsibility of the producers and importers could be reflected by charging them a fee on imported or manufactured special wastes and packaging wastes to further aid funding SWM services. Deposit Program The Lebanese government should also look into establishing a deposit program that obliges buyers, upon the purchase of certain products, to pay a certain added value to the price of the product. This charge would be returned to the buyer upon return of the used item. Only products that can be recovered through reuse or recycling would be subject to this fee. Deposits that are not collected by the buyer could be used to finance waste management activities. Industrial Sources: Cost Recovery The industrial sector in Lebanon is characterized by small units scattered around the country, and only few industries are notably large units. Possibly charging these industries the full cost of their solid waste disposal ($30-$75/ton) is an option, yet not without considering the full effect of all taxes imposed on these industries, to avoid double-payment and avoid damaging their already vulnerable regional competitiveness. Charging a tipping fee for demolition and construction waste (US$30 $75/ton) is recommended Grants and Loans Grants are not to be excluded from funding solid waste services in Lebanon. USAID, the European Union, the World Bank, and transfers from friendly states among others, are all potential sources of grants. Loans on the other hand could be helpful if they are given with a long-time frame (and low interest) in mind, and/or attached to some cost-recovery mechanism condition. Once there is a strong legal framework for SWM which entices the private sector to invest, there is a higher possibility for international financial institutions to provide the government of Lebanon with long-term loans. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 70

80 Littering and Non-Compliance Fines The Lebanese government must begin to apply fines for public littering by individuals to ensure cleanliness and raise additional revenues. A possible range for littering fines is between LL10 LL20 thousand Lebanese Pounds ($US6.6 US$13.3). Dedication and enforcement by the gendarmerie is necessary. Non-compliance fines are suggested to focus on individual or groups who persist in open dumping after a national solid waste plan is being implemented. Fines for open-dumping may range between $US250 - $US750 for every pickup unloading trash in a valley or roadside, or between $US50 - $100 for every garbage bag thrown by an individual. These figures are tentative, and need to be studied further to insure practicability. Table 4.6 summarizes the above-discussed options for cost recovery Incentives Despite there being a handful of non-coordinated instances when provisions for financial incentives were mentioned in Lebanese legislation 10,11, no regulation and decrees were established to elaborate on that front. Therefore, the existing texts on solid waste management remain inadequate in providing the private sector with incentives to encourage its participation in waste management activities. In an effort to avoid the shortcoming of past legislation, the proposed Integrated Waste Management Law addressed both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives. Fiscal incentives include duty reductions on imported waste management equipment, tax credit on beneficial waste management activities, tax exemptions on grants and donations, and on the purchase of material recovered from the waste stream. Non-fiscal Incentives include simplifying the waste management procedures such as the import of WM equipment or the authorization process of waste facility operators or service providers. 10 Decree 9093/2002 Amending the decree 1917 dated 6/4/1979 (Determining the basics and rules for distributing the funds of the independent municipality treasury) article Law on the Protection of the Environment 444/2002, article 20 ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 71

81 Table 4.6. Complete Summary of the Costs of SWM in Lebanon and Options for Complete Cost Recovery (Mechanism) Beirut Mount Lebanon North- Lebanon Bekaa South Lebanon Nabatiyeh Industrial Solid waste (nonhazardous) Solid Waste Generation Rate (kg/capita/day) Population (2004) 451,404 1,687, , , , ,188-4,482,313 Percent Population of Total 10.1% 37.6% 20.0% 13.6% 11.8% 6.9% - 100% Solid Waste Generation 497 1, ,144 (Tons/day) Total tons/year 181, , , , ,200 96, ,500 1,698,100 (approximation) Total Costs (millions US$/Year) National Budget (increasing the VAT to 10.5% with the additional tax incidence on suppliers/venders) 12 Cost Recovery Options (in US$ millions/year) Property Tax SWM fee based on minimum wage (added to property tax) IMF Total 12 Taking a 50% of the additional 0.5% VAT to fund SWM will yield US$20 million. The results are also spread according to population of Mohafaza ($US20 million spread across regions according to population percentages of total). See section Revenue from property tax = US$233 million and US$266 million in 2003 and 2004 respectively. If we assume these figures under a high collection rate of 80%, improving collection of property taxes in Lebanon will yield an additional million USD. Dedicating a conservative 25% of that to SWM will yield an additional USD millions (see section 5.1.3). This is a very conservative estimation as collection rates are most likely way under 80%. 14 See Table 7, section According to LAW 118 (see section 5.1.2), 25% of IMF money is to be spend on municipal unions (MUs) and 75% on individual municipalities. Furthermore 75% of the MUs money is spent on development projects while it is only 30% for individual municipalities). If proceeds for the IMF are US$140 million/year (see section 5.1.2), then development projects have a budget equaling $US26.25 and $US31.5 million for unions and individual municipalities respectively. As the IMF already spends most of its ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 72

82 New Airport Tax Tipping fees Industrial charges Grants and loans Littering fines 20 Total Potential Revenues for SWM Services (per year) Low end: - $US80 million (excluding VAT increase transfers and grants) High end: - $US102 million (excluding VAT increase transfers and grants) Low end: - $US110 with VAT increase transfers and grants High end: - $US142 million with VAT increase transfers and grants - Total (inclusive of all): $US $US142 Equal to around % of GDP or Around % of Government Yearly Revenues proceeds for SWM (Sukleen) at the cost of replenishing local governance, it is suggested that between 40-60% of the money from the IMF dedicated to development projects be delegated to SWM, i.e. US$ million/year (equal to 16.5% - 25% of total IMF proceeds) 16 See section ,000 tons of industrial wastes are considered construction and demolition wastes. Charging a fee to landfill these wastes of US$30-US$75/ton will generate revenues of $US million (see section ). 18 See section ,500 tons of non-hazardous solid wastes (excluding demolition and construction solid wastes), charged between $30 75/ton 19 See section See section ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 73

83 5. ON-GOING ACTIVITIES Currently the consultants are undertaking consultations with key stakeholders to review the proposed first draft of the framework Law. In addition to a major meeting with the MoE, a roundtable discussion is planned including representatives of the different stakeholders. A copy of the draft Law will be provided prior to the meeting to allow time for review of the draft Law and improve the effectiveness of the meeting. At the same time, a specific meeting will be organized with the Ministry of Finance to further discuss and validate the proposed mechanisms for cost recovery and incentives. Work with the economic model has significantly progressed, and an operational model shall be ready by mid-august. The model will be essential to fine tune investment and cost recovery figures to be used in the application decrees. Main application decrees currently being prepared relate to cost recovery issues, but these can only be finalized upon validation of the options with the Ministry of Finance and other concerned institutions. Most of the technical application decrees were already prepared by the MoE and are being reviewed and updated by the consultants. Preparation of materials for the training and awareness sessions has initiated and their finalization depends on the acceptance of the draft Law by the key stakeholders. It is noteworthy to mention that the consultants have so far received no indication with respect to the activities related to the implementation of the regional guidelines. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 74

84 REFERENCES CDR, Annual Report. Dames and Moore, Environmental and Geotechnical Assessment, Normandy Landfill, Beirut Lebanon. Devco, Issa Consulting, for Ministry of Municipalities and Rural Affairs (MMRA) & Council of Development and Reconstruction (CDR), Presentation, Cost Recovery, Solid Waste/Environmental Management Project (SWEMP), DP, UNCHS, World Bank, Urban Management Programme, Private Sector Participation in Municipal Solid Waste Services in Developing Countries, Volume 1., The Formal Sector., Washington METAP Regional Solid Waste Management Project, Finance and Cost Recovery Guideline, Aids to Implementation, Regional Guidelines, Volume 3, January METAP Regional Solid Waste Management Project, Private Sector Participation Guideline and Aids to Implementation, Volume 4, January Ministry of Finance, Budget Law 2003, MoE/Ecodit, State of the Environment Report, Ministry of Environment, Lebanon. OMSAR home page, UNDP, Ministry of Social Affairs, Mapping of Living Conditions In Lebanon, Analysis of the Housing and Population Data Base, 2nd Edition, 2001 UNEP and CEDARE, Policy and Institutional Assessment of Solid Waste Management in Five Countries-Lebanon. ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin 75

85 APPENDIX A MINUTES OF MEETINGS ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin Appendices

86 APPENDIX B FINANCIAL SITUATION OF GOL ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin Appendices

87 APPENDIX C AFFORDABILITY ANALYSIS ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin Appendices

88 APPENDIX D DRAFT SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT LAW ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin Appendices

89 APPENDIX E PROPOSED WASTE MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE ELARD in association with Envirotech and Tebodin Appendices