(Beirut) – Lebanon’s lack of a comprehensive solid waste management strategy is incurring huge environmental and public health costs, the Waste Management Coalition and Human Rights Watch said today. Trash began piling up on the streets in Beirut and surrounding areas in scenes reminiscent of the 2015 trash crisis after the Borj Hammoud/Jdeideh landfill reached capacity on April 30, 2020 and stopped receiving waste.

On May 5, the Cabinet approved the vertical expansion of the landfill, one of two main landfills serving Beirut and surrounding areas, but only as a stopgap measure. Human Rights Watch wa