The trash that washes up on Lebanon’s beaches is a microcosm of Lebanese life – hummus containers, espresso cups, plastic water bottles. It is also a reflection of the country’s political ills – indifference to environmental and health issues, disregard for solving urgent problems and corruption.
The country – particularly the capital Beirut – has been consumed by a waste crisis that began in 2015, when residents near the overflowing Naameh landfill forced the government finally to shut it down, 12 years after its scheduled closure. A nine-month stand-off between Beirut’s waste collection company and the municipality left trash rotting in the streets. In a bid to subdue the outrage that led to one of the first mass mobilizations in a decade, the government quickly opened two new landfills, including one alongside an old site in Bourj Hammoud, on Beirut’s outskirts.
