Lebanon has a decades-long history of challenges managing household and business waste, marked by a not-forgotten crisis in 2015 and continuing problems that span open waste burning, trash dumped near rivers, and landfill overflows. Public protests over inadequate waste management have been an unfortunate part of the collective social experience when streets become open dumpsites, unpleasant smells and scenes are part of everyday life, and sanitation workers and children search through it to earn only a few dollars a day. Meanwhile, organic and other waste may end up in landfills that do not meet proper environmental standards, or in illegal dumpsites that pollute the air, water, and soil.

In present-day Lebanon, there is active movement toward what’s known as “subsidiarity” and locally managed waste management. This is the principle that public service decisions and responsibilities should be handled by the most local level of authority capable of doing so effectively. Municipalities are the level of government closest to citizens and, therefore, should ideally be the institutions addressing waste management. Notably, in many communities, waste management consumes most of the municipal budget, money that could be invested in other community development projects. This situation has become more pressing after the multi-year economic crisis Lebanon has faced. 

Municipalities across Lebanon have tried to solve the daily problem of waste management. Some are making notable progress. But small and medium-sized municipalities face significant barriers to progress if they must independently manage the total cost and logistics. Neighboring municipalities in adjacent districts are experimenting with shared facilities and services while benefiting from appropriate guidance and oversight from concerned central authorities. 

While participating in the Bridges to New Horizons program, I was actively engaged in a new Bsharri Municipal Council installation of 160 new waste containers throughout the town, color-coded red for recyclable waste and green for organic waste. The Municipal Waste Management Committee consulted with the Bsharri District Union of Municipalities, representing 22 villages, as well as waste management experts and environmental organizations. We conducted a feasibility study, applied for grants, visited schools, and used the Bridges to New Horizons project management planning tools. These included the Logical Framework (Log Frame) and Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to strengthen the project and make the approach inclusive and realistic.

The real learning from our journey has been how important it is for municipality leaders to use structured project management tools but with a mindset of adaptive leadership that listens to and builds bridges with thin community stakeholders. Research shows that the mechanics, awareness of, and real engagement of community members in new source-sorting habits takes much more than brochure and survey distribution. 

Our impact measures involve physical checks on changes: whether more residents are sorting and doing it properly by sorting and separating food leftovers, tissues, and garden waste from clean recyclable materials. The early signs are promising. What does the future hold? Ultimately, we’ll need access to investments in a fully functioning waste sorting, recycling, and management facility. This must be the goal. In the meantime, the focus must continue to be increased community understanding of the importance of waste sorting within households and businesses. Citizen engagement in the process is critical to reduce system pressures and costs for the municipal budget.  

The waste crisis of Lebanon does not have to be a permanent reality. As the expression goes, "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." What kind of Earth, what kind of life, are we leaving for future generations? The future begins with the choices we make today, and every household and institution can become part of that change for generations to come.