RECYCLING FOR SUSTAINABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES The first annual "sustainability week" June 17-19, 2009 Beirut, Lebanon Presented by Nisrine Hougeiri LACECO Architect & Engineers

Outline 1. Sustainability 1.1. Definition & Theory 1.2. Link to Waste Management 2. Hierarchy of Sustainable Municipal Waste Management Practices 3. Benefits of Recycling 4. Recycling at the National Context 4.1. History 4.2. Informal Recycling Practices 4.3. The Greater Beirut Area Experience 4.4. National Versus International Recovery Rates 5. Conclusions & Recommendations Page 2/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

SUSTAINABILITY’S LINK TO WASTE MANAGEMENT Page 3/38 Sustainability Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Definition The UN World Commission on Environment & Development defines Sustainable development as “A development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs"(WECD, 1987). The above definition calls for balancing the economic and social forces with the needs of the environment . Page 4/38 Sustainability Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Theory – Triple Bottom Line Environmental Social Economic Sustainable Development The regenerative capacity of earth is directly affected by Society, the Environment and the Economy. “Only when we balance the requirements of all three complementary forces will we be truly sustainable” Page 5/38 Sustainability Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Theory – Five Capitals Models Natural Capital Human Capital Social Capital Manufactured Capital Financial Capital Economic activity is centrally placed and is constrained by Social issues, which in turn are constrained by Environmental factors. “All of the assets are necessary for human existence but as the central image makes clear, neither social not economic sustainability is possible unless environmental principles are recognized” Page 6/38 Sustainability Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Challenges – The Big Five RESOURCES INPUTS WASTE OUTPUT Water Resources Energy CITY Waste (Solid, Liquid, Gas) Transport Page 7/38 Sustainability Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT Page 8/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Municipal Solid Waste – Generated Quantities “The Arab region produces some 90 Million Tons of municipal solid waste every year” (AFED 2008 Report) “In the United States they generated approximately 254 Million Tons of municipal solid waste in 2007” (USEPA 2007 MSW in US – Facts & Figures) “Municipal Waste arisings in Europe are large and continue to increase. More than 306 Million Tons are estimated to be collected each year ” (European Environmental Agency) Page 9/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Municipal Solid Waste – Generation Rates (AFED 2008) Page 10/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Municipal Solid Waste – Generation Rates Page 11/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Sustainable Waste Management– Hierarchy Least Sustainable Most Sustainable Minimization Reuse RECYCLING Waste Transformation Landfilling Page 12/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Worldwide Waste Management Practices Page 13/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Arab World Waste Management Practices Page 14/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

Landfilling & Open dumps Sustainable Waste Management– Hierarchy Least Sustainable Most Sustainable Minimization Reuse RECYCLING Waste Transformation Landfilling Least Practiced Most practiced RECYCLING Waste Transformation Landfilling & Open dumps Page 15/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations

RECYCLING Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling Page 16/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Benefits of Recycling Decreased Waste Quantities Natural Resources Conservation Reduced Energy Consumption Reduced Environmental Pollution Economical Benefits Page 17/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Decreased Waste Quantities Country Organics Paper Plastics Metals Glass Wood Textile Others Total (%) Egypt 50-60 10-25 3-12 1.5-7.0 1.0-5.0 - 1.2-7.0 11.0-30.0 100 Bahrain 35 28 6 12 5 8 KSA 37 28.5 5.2 8.3 4.6 6.4 2 Oman 40 26 11 Qatar 45 18 15 4 10 3 Kuwait 50 20 12.6 2.6 3.3 4.8 1.9 Yemen 55 14 13 1.5 14.5 Jordan 63 16.8 2.1 Syria 62 7 17 Iraq 1 1.1 1.6 32.3 Lebanon 58 2.4 6.6 Dubai 42 16 Abu Dhabi 49 9 Page 18/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Decreased Waste Quantities “Solid waste must not therefore be considered as worthless material that should be disposed of by the cheapest way possible. As a valuable resource, it can be recovered & re-utilized” Page 19/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Natural Resources Conservation RECYCLING 1 ton of: Steel Saves 1.3 tons of iron ore 0.7 tons of coal 0.062 tons of limestone Paper Saves 17 trees 6.953 gallons of H2O 463 gallons of oil 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space Plastic Saves 1000-2000 gallons of oil Glass Saves 1.2 tons of virgin raw materials (sand, limestone and soda ash) Aluminum Saves 60t of Bauxite ore Page 20/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Lifecycle – No Recycling Manufacturing Process Material Processing Product Manufacture Distribution Mining Environment, Air, Sea & land use Disposal Page 21/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Environment, Air, Sea & land Lifecycle - Recycling Manufacturing Process Material Processing Product Manufacture Distribution Mining Environment, Air, Sea & land use 3 2 1 Material Recycling Disposal 1: Direct Reuse 2: Remanufacture of recyclables without the need of reprocessing the product 3: Remanufacture of recyclables after reprocessing the product Page 22/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Reduced Energy Consumption Cont’d Page 23/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Reduced Environmental Pollution Manufacturing Process Material Processing Product Manufacture Distribution Mining Environment, Air, Sea & land use Disposal Environmental Pollution is associated with: Every stage of a product development (extraction, refining, processing) Distribution of the product The ultimate disposal of the product Page 24/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

Economic Benefits BENEFIT COST Externalities Economic Value of Natural Resources Revenues from the sale of recyclables Externalities Reduced Energy Cost for manufacturers Employment Salaries Cheaper than other WM practices Initial Capital Investment Additional Employment Opportunities Page 25/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Recycling National Context Recommendations

NATIONAL CONTEXT Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling Page 26/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

History of Recycling In Lebanon In Lebanon the first attempt to recycle was initiated by scavengers during the civil war when scavengers appeared at dumpsites picking whatever could generate cash; After the civil war recycling has been viewed from a different perspective by different parties: Ecological Issue related to Environmental Protection; A business opportunity with open Horizons Throughout Lebanon, recycling is an activity practiced either informally or formally. But in both cases it is not the concern of the generating parties; Informal recycling activities are practiced in the form of scavenging which in the case of Lebanon is a whole industry by itself; The major formal recycling activity taking place in Lebanon is implemented by the government as part of an integrated waste management plan for the Greater Beirut Area where almost 50% of the Country’s waste is generated. The plan is operated by SUKOMI under the supervision of LACECO Architects & Engineers; Page 27/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

Informal Recycling Activities In the GBA An estimate between 2,000 and 4,000 scavengers working in Beirut has been reported; There are about 27 major collection points and about 20 small ones where the scavenged materials are stored before being sold; 60% of the brokers who own the collection points are Lebanese. An active scavenger collects the following amounts daily: Plastics (other than water bottles) : 10-15 kgs Water and soft drink bottles : 12 -15 kgs Craft cardboard : 100-130 kgs Page 28/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

Informal Recycling Efficiency - GBA Item UNIT Value Scavengers in GBA person 2000-4000 Recovered Recyclables per Scavenger Kg/day/Scavenger 122-160 Total Recovered Recyclables Ton/day 280-564 % of Waste Formally Collected % 12.5-25.2 Page 29/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

Greater Beirut Area Experience The Greater Beirut Area Project is an integrated waste management plan that serves the Greater Beirut Area and Part of Mount Lebanon. The plan was adopted in the year 1997 by the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) in consultation with the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Sector Implementation Unit (SIU-3) for the waste generated by the Greater Beirut Area (GBA) and part of Mount Lebanon Mohafazat. The Project consists of the following components: Two Waste Sorting and processing facilities; One Warehouse for the storage of recovered recyclables; One Composting Facility for composting part of the organic fraction of the waste; One Engineering Sanitary landfill for the landfilling of the sorting plants’ rejects; One Landfill for the landfilling of bulky items and construction waste. Page 30/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

GBA Waste Management Plan KARENTINA Municipal Solid Waste (2234 tons/day) AMROUSSIEH Manual Sorting Other Domestic Waste Recyclables Bulky Items WAREHOUSE BSALIM LANDFILL NAAMEH LANDFILL CORAL FARMERS Mechanical Sorting CLIENT Remaining Organics Compost Baling Rejects Page 31/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

Rejects to Sanitary Landfill GBA Waste Sorting Facilities Bulky Items Cardboard Tires Inclined Conveyor Receiving Area Manual Sorting Bag Opener Collection Vehicle Conveyor Metals Conveyor Trommel 1 (14 mm) 4 Manual Sorting lines Conveyor Conveyor Baling Wrapping Magnetic Separator Oversized Materials Conveyor Trommel 2 (8 mm) Paper Glass Tin Al Plastics Rejects to Sanitary Landfill Conveyor Magnetic Separator Metals Fine Organic Material (Compost) Page 32/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

GBA Waste Sorting Facilities – General Photos Page 33/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

GBA Waste Sorting Facilities – General Photos Page 34/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

National Formal Recyclables Recovery Rates Page 35/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

National Vs International Recycling Recovery Page 36/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context National Context Recommendations

CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Page 37/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations Recommendations

Conclusions & Recommendations There are enough recyclables in the Municipal Solid Waste Stream to make it a valuable resource rather than a worthless material; For a sustainable waste management plan, recycling should be integrated as a key and efficient component of any integrated waste management system; In order to maximize the benefits of recycling, recyclables should be recovered at the source of generation prior to their contamination with the rest of the waste components; Accordingly, the public community and the parties generating the waste should be involved in the implementation of recycling activities. Page 38/38 Sustainability Municipal SWM Recycling National Context Recommendations Recommendations