The Toxic Plastic Waste Trade in Lebanon

Plastic pollution is spread across lands, beaches, and oceans. Small particles of plastic, called microplastics, are persistent in marine ecosystems, and can be found in our food and salt (Borrelle et al., 2017). Plastic pollution has a variety of impacts, from effects on biodiversity and ecosystems, to food quality and human health, but it is still not well characterized and needs more research attention.

In Lebanon, there is a lack of information that quantifies plastic at sources, its accumulation, and path or trajectories. Thus, NGOs, government, and industries have concerns and are interested in developing the means and policies to track, collect, and recycle plastic waste to address this issue of plastic waste pollution at the international level.

Under the IPEN Toxics-Free Sustainable Development Goal (TFSDG) Projects, Phase 3, this report aims to reflect the actual situation of plastic pollution as an emerging global threat, and, more specifically, on the local level in Lebanon. It describes the problems associated with plastic waste in Lebanon, including disposal and trade, as well as levels of plastic pollution and impacts on human health and the environment and recycling activities in the country. Although data is limited, an overview for plastics in Lebanon is shown in this report, with recommendations for the social, economic, and policy levels.

This report is related to the Sustainable goals 3, 11,12,14

We gratefully acknowledge IPEN for the financial support provided in completing this work, especially the IPEN Middle East & North Africa Hub Coordinator, Semia Gharbi, and all those who contributed to making this work a success.