The town of Amioun in North Lebanon is the administrative center of Koura District and home to around 15,000 Lebanese residents and 1,000 refugees. The closure of the local dumpsite in 2019 resulted in a rise in harmful practices such as illegal waste dumping and burning, which has fueled heightened communal tensions. In response, and to provide 83,847 residents in Koura with a sustainable solution for reducing waste through the recovery of recyclables, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) is upgrading the Amioun Material Recovery Facility (AMRF) and distributing 168 new recyclable cages to more than 18 villages in the district. To ensure the sustainability of this investment, CSP trained 18 municipalities on recyclables recovery and management and on designing and implementing community awareness campaigns on sorting-at-source. The benefitting municipalities include: Amioun, Aafsdiq, Dar Chamizzine, Rechdibine, El Majdel, Kifraiya, Qalhat, Ras Masqa, Ijdaabrine, Barsa, Bsarma, Bednayel, Bdebba, Aaba, Kaftoun, Kfar Hata, Btaaboura, Dhour El-Hawa. On December 4, 2022, CSP started the implementation of multiple sorting-at-source awareness activities, which included the distribution of 5,803 household recycling bins by around 90 volunteers from all targeted communities. Overall, some 79 trainees representing municipalities and communities have participated in ten of CSP’s trainings on raising awareness. They are now engaging, communicating, and sharing the success of their plans on their social media platforms created to serve this end.

“The joint effort by the volunteers coming together from Koura villages to work on a common problem has proven to be highly engaging and effective towards raising local awareness on sorting-at-source,” stated Rabiaa al Samrout, a volunteer from Kefraya village.