BEIRUT: Lebanon is facing a public health crisis because of its failing waste management system with more than three-quarters of the country鈥檚 solid waste either being dumped in landfill sites and burned or buried, according to one study.
The report by the American University of Beirut said that all but 10-12 percent of the country鈥檚 waste was suitable for recycling or use as organic fertilizers, yet 77 percent of waste was sent to landfill sites or improperly buried.
Lebanon鈥檚 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, Ghassan Hasbani, said random waste incineration, or burning, was directly affecting people鈥檚 health. He urged the Cabinet to develop a waste management plan, and said Lebanon needed to 鈥減rovide treatment, as a national priority, to those harmed by the state鈥檚 failure to secure a safe environment.鈥�
Hasbani said the country had about 940 randomly sited waste dumps, with open-air waste incineration being carried out in 150 sites every week. As a result, the risk of lung disease among nearby residents had more than doubled.
At a joint press conference with Human Rights Watch representatives at the Ministry of Health on Monday, the health minister revealed there were 1,200 lung cancer patients and 1,090 colon cancer patients in Lebanon.
Hasbani said the average cost of treating a lung cancer patient is $13,000 compared with $5,000 in 2012. He called on the government to allocate additional budgets for treating cancer patients. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a human health issue,鈥� he said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently launched a campaign calling on the Lebanese government to introduce a national law and develop a sustainable strategy for waste management.
鈥淏urning waste in the open air puts the residents鈥� health at risk,鈥� said Lama Fakih, director of HRW in Beirut. 鈥淭he absence of an effective plan for addressing waste incineration is a violation of Lebanon鈥檚 international obligations.鈥�
Lebanon faces a renewed waste management crisis with the Costa Brava (in Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs) and Burj Hammoud (in the city鈥檚 east) landfills expected to reach maximum capacity this year, two years earlier than government predictions. The two sites were designed to hold waste only until another solution could be found.
Bassam Khawaja, the Lebanon and Kuwait researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at HRW, said the Lebanese people 鈥渕ust demand real plans and radical solutions.鈥�
Khawaja said that 鈥渁bout 90 percent of Lebanon鈥檚 solid waste contains substances that can be either composted or recycled, yet only 8 percent was being recycled and 15 percent being composted. There isn鈥檛 a suitable recycling option in Beirut.鈥�
HRW interviewed more than 100 people living in areas close to landfill sites, as well as public health experts, government officials, doctors and activists. Researchers also visited landfill sites and took photographs using drones.