Building a Sustainable and Circular Future. Lebanon-Germany Dialogue on Integrated Solid Waste Management

Amid the current financial crisis facing the country, leading among others to the currency devaluation and the reduced government funding for the solid waste sector’s costly daily operations, Lebanon is on the verge of a public health crisis caused by the near collapse of its waste management infrastructure. Urgent and strategic interventions need to be expedited to ensure that solid waste management (SWM) services can be maintained or restored.

Germany on the other side implements a comprehensive approach to waste management, including recycling, waste-to-energy incineration, and strict regulations on landfill disposal. The country's success in waste management is attributed to policies promoting recycling, extended producer responsibility, and public awareness campaigns. By prioritizing the waste mitigation hierarchy and 'R principles', Germany has significantly reduced its landfill waste and environmental impact, which can serve as a model for other nations seeking sustainable waste management solutions.

In this context, this high-level event brings together key stakeholders from Lebanon and Germany to discuss challenges, as well as best practices and lessons learned in their pursuit of efficient and sustainable Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM). The event will cover discussions related to: (1) the development of waste management strategies at national and local levels – including but not limited to the importance of adopting a systematic approach to economic development that aims to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover materials and products, moving away from environmentally hazardous disposal methods (i.e. open burning/dumping and landfilling), and encouraging behavioral change against littering, and (2) the critical role of data in informing evidence-based decision-making for ISWM and formulation of policy recommendations for national institutions to foster long-term sustainability in the waste management sector.

The event will share insights of the project 'Reducing Marine Litter in the Mediterranean through Waste Wise Cities Lebanon (ReMaL)', funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the Lebanese Ministry of Environment's (MoE) Solid Waste Roadmap for 2023–2026.