From a distance, this mound of Earth,
situated at the Port of Tripoliin Lebanon, looks harmless.
But if we get closer, you'll see that it isn't a mound of Earth at all.
It's a mountain of trash.
It's a mountain trash that they have just dumped soil on top of, and it stinks.
And next to it, a second pile is starting to build up
with a very high chance that it would expand into the sea.
This is ridiculous, and we just saw a dog playing with trash
A mindset that has been widely adopted by Lebanese officials for decades is:
"out of sight, out of mind."
A massive explosion has torn through the Lebanese capital...
As a result, in 2020, 2700 metric tons of highly explosive material
called ammonium nitrate that were locked away unsecured in a warehouse
caught fire and exploded.
The blast killed at least 200 people and severely injured thousands.
But the explosion also left a trail of destruction across Beirut,
with 800,000 tons of waste and toxic chemicals
scattered into the air, soil and water.
It was the final straw for an already struggling country.
A Human Rights Watch report found
that Beirut's landfills had reached full capacity at the end of 2019
and were on the verge of collapse.
But scientists have established that from the 85% of waste going to landfills,
only 10% needs to and the rest could be recycled or composted.
So how did it come to this?
And what solutions does this fractured country have left?
This is what a typical beach in Lebanon looks like.
A boardwalk in Beirut, a harbor in Batroun, the side of the highway,
And this is the Kadisha river running through the heart of Tripoli.
It's just trash everywhere.
What Lebanon is living through is a result of years of reckless negligence,
corruption and collusion that can be traced back
to the very top levels of government.
For too long politicians have only thought inwards,
enriching themselves with public funds and neglecting to spend money
on the services that they were meant to provide.
Supplies are being rationed as Lebanon doesn't have enough fuel.
Lebanon's economy has been in freefall.
Shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
A report found that Lebanon spends $420 million a year on waste management.
Yet in 2015, the waste crisis hit an all time high.
After government authorities closed a major landfill site
that was overflowing in south Beirut
without implementing a contingency plan to replace it.
The region's waste company suspended collection
causing piles of rubbish to fill the streets for weeks.
This culminated in protests outside the Lebanese government.
Since then, a number of stopgap measures have been put in place,
like the building of temporary landfill sites and burning of waste,
or even dumping it into the ocean.
The environmental issues don't just stem from the failures in waste management.
The neglect of public services can be seen
right across the different sections of government.
For example, the government spends around one billion a year on electricity,
but there are multiple blackouts a day.
And no one can predict when the government might turn off the power.
Do you want to just explain what's just happened?
Welcome to Lebanon. This is how we work.
We have electricity for half an hour and then it goes out for the rest of the day.
As a result, you'll find these diesel-power generators all across the country
acting as a proxy for the electrical grid.
Fuel consumption for diesel generators increased by 134% between 2010 and 2012.
boosting an ongoing problem - air pollution.
In 2018, figures published by the Environmental Ministry
claimed that there are 941 random dump sites spread throughout Lebanon.
Because there is no national plan
and no national law on solid waste management.
At 150 of these, the open burning is taking place every week.
And that number is bound to have risen since.
Professor Nejat Saliba,
an air quality expert from the American University of Beirut,
said that between 2017 and 2020,
air pollutuion increased by 50% across Beirut.
And the waste that's left to pile up in places like Tripoli
emits methane and other greenhouse gases, adding to the air pollution issues.
Every day, residents have to live with the strong odors from the waste,
which have been linked to respiratory diseases,
allergies and the spread of bacteria
This is a river in Beirut, and its literal translation is river of death.
I think reeks! Oh my God, it smells so bad!
Lebanon's waste crisis has also penetrated the country's water resources.
This is the Litani River running for 170 kilometers.
It was always an essential artery that people relied upon
to provide secure drinking water, ensure irrigation and generate electricity.
Now, it suffers from severe pollution.
In April 2021, thousands of dead fish washed up on the shore of Lake Qaraoun.
where the Litani River has its source.
Yet back in 2016, a $55 million pollution prevention project
was approved by the World Bank and implemented by the Lebanese government
to counter exactly this issue in Lake Quaraoun.
Its objectives were to reduce the quantity of untreated municipal sewage discharge
into the Litani River and to improve pollution management around Lake Quaraoun.
But despite the multi-million dollar cash infusion, the director general
of the National Authority of the Litani River expressed concern.
He said that there were thousands of cancer cases reported in the towns
surrounding the river, with one town recording 600 cases.
Lebanese beaches haven't been spared the pollution either,
with sewage water being dumped into the sea for years.
8 out of 36 public beaches in Lebanon are highly polluted.
And 4 sites are classified as risky or unsafe for swimming.
And I'm currently here at ANT 2,
where the water is classed as highly polluted.
And it's right next to this chemical factory.
With who knows what just falling into the ocean,
The government aren't doing anything.
Who is clearing this up?
I mean, if you go scuba diving here in Lebanon,
you're going to probably see more trash and beer bottles than fish.
Aside from being a political issue, it's also an education issue.
There is a problem of people not knowing how to recycle.
Studies have shown that improved waste management practices,
such as recycling and composting,
could save $74 million a year.
And remember, according to AUB researchers,
only 10% of Lebanon's waste can't be composted or recycled.
People are slowly starting to understand that they should recycle their waste,
but they still don't have the support or facilities to do so.
Free Love Recycle is on a mission to make recycling easier
by digitizing the waste management sector.
In 2015, during the garbage crisis,
we needed a way to recycle, but we didn't know how to sort out waste,
and we didn't know where to send our waste once sorted.
So we had an idea.
We created a mobile application where with a simple click, you can request a pick up.
So I decided to go along on one of these pickups.
The driver goes to the collection point where they pick up the recycling,
and take it to the drop-off center.
There, the recycling is sorted and properly disposed of.
And this is all free of charge.
If someone can give a donation, it always helps.
It's a positive sign to see the NGOs and other local start-ups
and community initiatives have solutions for how to recycle their waste.
Clean ups like this happen regularly across Lebanon and along its coats.
But more public awareness programs need to be implemented.
And the authorities need to take responsibility
because the beaches don't stay clean for long.
Seriously, don't know what to say. Seriously.
We cleaned this beach a month ago, and this just happened in the last 4 weeks.
Yeah.
This public effort to enact change in the waste management crisis
should be enough for the government to act on.
They could simply seize the opportunities being presented to them
to reduce 85% of their waste, down to just 10%.
We are completely independent from the government.
We try to collaborate with them if they are here to support us - good for us.
But, unfortunately, now we don't get any support.
Lebanon is a country plagued by decades of war
and a broken political establishment.
Trust in the government is at rock bottom.
I wouldn't ask what the government can do.
I would ask each of us in Lebanon to first reduce the amount of waste.
If each one of them reduced one gram of it,
it would be a huge change.
With the country effectively back to where it was after the Civil War,
many in Lebanon believe that a total reshaping of the political system
is required for a functioning government to enact real change.
Despite the present issues, the country has a lot of potential to change course.
Blessed with outstanding landscapes and a rich archaeological heritage
that can support a strong tourism sector
along with a wealth of fertile lands and incredible cuisines.
But most importantly, what Lebanon has today is many more solutions
being presented on the ground to help navigate the country
towards a cleaner future.
Thank you for watching.
A different problem seems to arise in Lebanon every week.
Since returning from my trip a month ago,
Lebanon has experienced a total electricity grid outage,
a fire broke out at an oil facility
and militia groups were fighting in the streets of Beirut.
So, if you would like to donate to the NGO, Live Love and all its activities
that we featured in this piece, you can find a link in the description below.
And to see more videos like this,
remember to like, follow and subscribe to the channel for new videos every Friday.