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Disasters occur in both developed and developing countries, generating large amounts of disaster waste including construction and demolition (C&D) waste that needs to be appropriately managed. While developed countries are capable of implementing adequate disaster waste management (DWM) strategies to facilitate their recovery processes, developing countries generally struggle to find the resources and expertise needed to develop such strategies. Lebanon is a developing country vexed by several systemic challenges that hindered its abilities to manage disaster waste. In this paper, we focus on the Beirut Port explosion (4 August 2020), which generated more than 800,000 tonnes of disaster wastes. This study first assesses the executed strategies and identifies their enabling factors and implementation challenges. It then proposes a framework for the proper management of disaster waste, which was validated through 18 in-depth interviews with experts and stakeholders involved in disaster management. Interview notes and transcripts were analyzed using an inductive-deductive process that allowed to identify themes using the constant comparative method. The data revealed that the main barriers toward implementing a successful DWM strategy were the absence of appropriate technologies, infrastructure, expertise, legislative framework and financial resources. The study concludes by proposing a DWM roadmap that includes contingency, risk reduction and implementation plans (IPs) that can enhance decision-making and ease the recovery process.

Solid waste management is a multifaceted task that incorporates a diverse set of shareholders and operations. To create a sustainable solid waste management system, governments should select the most advantageous organisational structure, given a country's current setting; contextualising the sector's administrative structure in accordance with a nation's organisational constraints. This research aimed to determine the recommended level of administrative and financial decentralisation for each solid waste management operation and explore the susceptibilities and prospects of each level of governance in Lebanon. Primary data was gathered from environmental experts and concerned organisations using a semi-structured in-depth interview. Results revealed that the optimal model for solid waste management in the case of Lebanon incurs devolving collection, which would assimilate local populations into the decision-making process and reduce opposition towards devised solid waste management plans. Delegation and the construction of centralised treatment facilities is recommended as it incentivises municipal cooperation and permits the installation of methodologies and technologies that reflect the limitations, public attitudes, and waste dynamics of each distinct geographical territory. Deconcentrating disposal would limit the number of landfills constructed and facilitate monitoring. Administrative and constitutional reformations that clearly define the roles and responsibilities of public agencies would reduce the influence of the central authority on peripheral states. The establishment of municipal cooperation models would diminish regional economic disparities by enhancing the level of communication and collaboration between subnational bodies. The performance of decentralised strategies should be continuously monitored to ensure that local administrators are held accountable.

The management of solid waste is a major determinant for sustainable development due to the social, economic, and environmental implications that the sector can have on public health and the environment. Generally, the practice of solid waste disposal by means of landfilling in developing countries is below par resulting in numerous open dumps/uncontrolled landfills that lack the necessary remedial and control measures. Several models and approaches have been applied for the environmental assessment of uncontrolled landfills that depend on complex physical models and probabilistic concepts that are normally difficult to use, involve large amount of data and thus are time consuming and costly. This research aimed to formulate a pragmatic methodology that can be utilized in low- and middle-income countries where comprehensive environmental assessment studies are scarce. The proposed methodological framework can guide decision makers in prioritizing sites for remediation according to their potential for contamination of surface and groundwater as well as air. A pilot basin and dumpsite were selected to test the methodology. Application of the methodology provided plausible results on the significance of the impacts on water resources and air quality and provided a systematic approach to guide the decision-making process on the need to rehabilitate the dumpsite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many low and middle-income countries, solid waste management (SWM) systems remain weak and lack standardization. Moreover, these systems fail to account for citizen's insight on the proposed solid waste initiatives. This study aims to identify the main determinants of SWM practices in a low-middle income country while accounting for citizens' perceived knowledge, attitudes, structural barriers, and willingness to pay for different services. Three communities were thus selected with varying socioeconomic factors and where different SWM practices were adopted. A cross-sectional study based on an interviewer-administered questionnaire was conducted across the three areas. Our results showed that increased knowledge and awareness of proper SWM did not correlate with people's attitudes nor with their adoption of positive waste management practices, such as reusing, reducing, recycling, and sorting of waste. Nevertheless, the results showed that the presence of an effective SWM system in a community positively influenced people's attitudes. Structural determinants, including the lack of appropriate facilities and adequate infrastructure, weak public knowledge on sorting, recycling, and composting, as well as the absence of guiding policies, appeared to be core barriers hindering the adoption of sustainable waste management practices across the three communities. The results of this study highlight the importance of establishing integrated SWM systems in developing countries, as they appear to trigger positive behaviors by the serviced citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of solid waste has been recognized as the cornerstone for sustainable development and closed loop circular economy models. Moreover, solid waste management is at the forefront of initiatives seeking to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This research stems from the limited success that solid waste management programs have had in the context of developing countries and the need to overcome the obstacles and impediments hampering the implementation of a sustainable solid waste management framework. It aims to facilitate the optimization process of the applied technical, operational, and managerial schemes, streamline sustainable practices and close the circularity gap that currently exists in waste management taking Lebanon as a case example. Accordingly, a performance assessment and optimization tool was developed to evaluate the administrative, environmental, and operational performance of 27 unions of municipalities and large municipalities encompassing more than 90 villages/cities. The model compares different technologies based on a set of user defined constraints and groups municipalities and operational facilities into four classes: (A) Superior, (B) Satisfactory, (C) Poor, and (D) No service. The excessive amounts of disposal rates, failure in the adoption of a comprehensive solid waste management framework, the absence of a contingency plan, and the consistent reliance on ad hoc strategies for handling solid waste characterized the sector in Lebanon. A thorough analysis of the various waste management systems revealed that none could be classified as "superior", with the ratings of most schemes compounded in the lower end of the spectrum. • Development of an optimized multi-criterion solid waste decision support model. • Model evaluates waste management systems and highlight areas of improvement. • Model categorically stratify municipalities and operational solid waste facilities. • Analyses of various waste systems provide technical indicators of system efficiency. • Identifying enablers for a sustainable and circular economy approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceuticals comprise an extensive group of compounds whose release into the environment has potential adverse impacts on human health and aquatic ecosystems. In many developing countries the extent of the problem and the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in water bodies are generally unknown. While thousands of tons of pharmaceutical substances are used annually, little information is known about their final fate after their intended use. This paper focuses on better understanding the management of human-use pharmaceutical wastes generated at the residential level within the Administrative Beirut Area. A survey encompassing 300 households was conducted. Results revealed that the majority of respondents were found to dispose of their unwanted medications, mainly through the domestic solid waste stream. Willingness to participate in a future collection program was found to be a function of age, medical expenditure, and the respondents' views towards awareness and the importance of establishing a collection system for pharmaceutical wastes. Respondents who stated a willingness to participate in a collection program and/or those who believed in the need for awareness programs on the dangers of improper medical waste disposal tended to favor more collection programs managed by the government as compared to a program run by pharmacies or to the act of re-gifting medication to people in need. Ultimately, collaboration and coordination between concerned stakeholders are essential for developing a successful national collection plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]