Frem calls for the waste-to-energy generation

Proposal includes a six-month plan

Following the environmental crisis after the closure of the Naameh landfill, the Chairman of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), Neemat Frem, proposed a six-month plan to transfer the country’s waste into energy.

“The garbage crisis, which we are witnessing today is undeniable knowing that the country dumps five million tons of garbage daily,” said Frem. The market has the necessary expertise and technologies to install waste-to-energy facilities on the landfill sites. “More waste-to-energy facilities can be provided for the union of municipalities to solve this problem, providing us with 100 megawatts of power,” he said

Such a project brings with it a number of benefits. Land spaces will be spared; revenues for the government will be generated, and the energy production will be boosted free of charge. It will also end the problem of toxic carbon emissions and the harmful decomposition of waste into the underground water stream.

The proposal comes after protestors rallied at the entrance of the Naameh landfill, to prevent Sukleen trucks from accessing the landfill to dump shipments of trash. Repeated meetings between representatives of the Naameh municipality, the government, environmental organizations and the protestors failed to reach an agreement. The Naameh landfill problem goes back to more than 16 years, after the landfill started its operations in 1998, with a maximum capacity of two million cubic meters of trash. It currently contains ten million cubic meters of trash, well beyond its maximum capacity.

The Ministry of Environment indicated that the closure of the Naameh landfill before finding alternative solutions is unrealistic. Among the suggested solutions by the Naameh protestors includes a plan for sorting and recycling solid waste, which has been proposed to the Ministry of Environment in February 2013. However, the government’s resignation has prevented the adoption of this plan.