In 2019, the closure of the Adwa landfill in Koura led to waste accumulation, haphazard dumping, and garbage burning. In response, the USAID-funded Community Support Program (CSP) designed a sustainable recyclables recovery model for 18 Koura villages. This included rehabilitating the Bechmezzine Material Recovery Facility (BMRF) and equipping it with a plastic crusher, balers, weighing scale, and a backup generator to expand its capacity for receiving, processing, and selling recyclables.  As a result, the facility was able to increase collection from six to 18 villages, where CSP established recyclable collection points and provided 273 strategically placed recyclable bins/containers across neighborhoods. To ensure the sustainability of this intervention, CSP engaged 144 youth volunteers to conduct intensive awareness campaigns, reaching more than 13,000 people across the 18 villages, to promote sustainable waste management practices and improve the sorting of recyclables at source. As part of this initiative, CSP is also organizing a two-month awareness campaign targeting 500 students at the Notre Dame University (NDU) North Lebanon Campus in Barsa.

On April 3, 2024, USAID Lebanon’s Mission Director Julie Southfield and the Minister of Environment Dr. Nasser Yassine visited the NDU campus in Barsa for a tour of the ongoing student-led awareness raising activities, then toured the BMRF, where CSP completed the facility’s expansion in March 2024. Since October 2022, this initiative has enabled the BMRF to recover more than 30 tons of recyclables monthly, increased its collection capacity by 270%, and boosted its revenue by 40%, while significantly improving recyclable waste management for more than 103,000 residents.

“This initiative aligns with the Ministry of Environment’s strategy to enhance sorting at source and recycling, as well as to promote decentralization and the role of municipalities in solid waste management,” said Dr. Yassine.