The town of Amioun in North Lebanon is the administrative center of the 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 heightened communal tensions over waste management. 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 rehabilitating the Amioun Material Recovery Facility (AMRF) and upgrading it with needed equipment such as a vertical baler, glass crusher, and truck weigh scale to expand operations. In parallel, CSP is distributing 168 new recyclable cages to more than 18 villages in the district. To ensure the sustainability of this intervention, CSP is also training AMRF staff on safety measures, equipment maintenance, financial documentation, and efficient workflow.

Additionally, in partnership with the Diane Foundation, CSP trained 82 community volunteers from 18 municipalities[1] on recyclables recovery and management, and on designing and implementing sorting-at-source community awareness campaigns, reaching 6,413 people. In April 2023, CSP also assigned an intern through its internship program to regularly monitor AMRF’s operations, provide guidance on safety measures and equipment maintenance, ensure proper financial documentation, optimize truck routes, and track workflow to ensure transparency and efficiency. By June 2023, this holistic intervention had enabled the AMRF to increase its recyclables collection by 72% in just eight months (7,700 kg in November 2022 compared to 27,198 kg in July 2023)

“We have witnessed a substantial increase in the collection of recyclables after the rehabilitation of the facility and launch of the participatory awareness campaign. Sorting at source is becoming a lifestyle across Amioun villages”, said Aicha Tayssoun, Manager of the Amioun Material Recovery Facility