1. Basic info 

Funding amount:  

€ 3,669,347 (for Lebanon) 

€ 4,574,096.03 (total budget) 

Donor:  

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMUV) 

 

Duration:  

June 2023–October 2025 

Location:  

Coastal areas in Lebanon (6 Ministry of Environment-delineated Service Zones for Integrated Solid Waste Management, and 13 Unions of Municipalities) 

Status:  

Active 

Targeted number of beneficiaries:  

  • Personnel of national ministries: 10 (at least 5 female) 
  • People that have participated in the project's clean up events, school activities and pilot project launches: 7,000 (5,000 pupils) 
  • Number of informal workers (scavengers and from private sector) included in pilot projects: 65 
  • 90% (at least 40% female) of the Unions of Municipalities' staff who were engaged in the project activities say that the project increased their knowledge and skills on ISWM by the end of the project. 
  • Around 5.6 million Lebanese, 1.5 million Syrians, and an estimated 180,000 Palestinian refugees from Lebanon will benefit by improved MSW management in the UoMs and improved policies on the national level. 

Lebanon in general has been experiencing numerous challenges in the solid waste sector over the past decades. These challenges have gradually increased since 2011, in light of the notable increase in quantities of waste due to the influx of displaced Syrians. In October 2019, Lebanon experienced the beginning of an economic crisis that threatens the sustainability of the solid waste sector given the increasing depreciation of the local currency, thus, impacting the operation and maintenance and rehabilitation works of all solid waste facilities. According to the “Lebanon State of Environment and Future Outlook Report” issued in 2020, approximately 35 per cent of municipal solid waste ends up in open dumpsites, while 44 per cent in sanitary landfills. In this backdrop, Reducing Marine Litter in the Mediterranean through Waste Wise Cities Lebanon (ReMaL) project was launched. 

 

The ReMaL project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMUV), aims to reduce marine litter in Lebanon by supporting coastal Unions of Municipalities and the national government in the implementation of the Integrated Solid Waste Management Law of Lebanon – Law No. 80 (2018). This will be achieved by launching pilot projects, developing local solid waste master plans, raising awareness and formulating policy recommendations that address issues such as plastic waste, but also financing mechanisms. In the long term, the aim is to improve resource efficiency and the management of municipal solid waste in Lebanon's coastal areas.  

 

The ReMaL project is in line with the drafted “Solid Waste Roadmap for Sector Reform and Priority Interventions in 2023–2026” of the Ministry of Environment. 

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