Aoun: New Waste Management Plan to be Announced Soon

President Michel Aoun revealed Monday that a new waste management plan for the country will be “announced soon.”

“A new waste management plan will be devised and its implementation will relieve the Lebanese regions of this crisis,” Aoun told a delegation comprising the heads of Lebanon's municipal unions.

“This plan takes into consideration the interests of both municipalities and citizens,” Aoun added, hoping it will be announced “soon.”

A judge had recently ordered the closure of the Costa Brava rubbish dump near Beirut airport after warnings that birds attracted by the garbage were threatening aircraft safety.

Costa Brava was opened in March last year as one of three "temporary" tips intended to provide an interim solution after the closure of the Naameh landfill that was receiving waste from Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

The dumps were eventually intended to have waste processing facilities, but that has not happened.

As a result, garbage has piled up in Costa Brava, on the coastline close to the airport runways, reaching nine meters in some places.

Environmentalists have for months warned that the dump is attracting rodents and increasing numbers of birds.

A permanent solution for the waste produced by Beirut and its surroundings has yet to be found, months after the Naameh landfill was shuttered.

The closure of the Naameh site had led to the accumulation of garbage on the streets of the capital and Mount Lebanon, sparking months of protests against the entire political class that involved clashes between police and demonstrators.