Recycling is definitely a much better solution
workers accept everything from cardboard to plastic, glass, metal, e-waste, batteries and even used cooking oil.A sign lists the prices — a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cardboard is worth 2,000 Lebanese pounds (around two cents), while aluminium cans are worth 50,000 pounds a kilogram.
Rony Nashef, 38, handed over bulging bags of plastic, in a country where many rely on bottled water for drinking.
Recycling “is definitely a much better solution to Lebanon’s trash problem", he said.
Incompetence and corruption caused a spectacular waste crisis in lebanon in 2015, when rivers of garbage filled the streets and ran into the sea, leading to protests by thousands and harming the country’s image.No viable long-term solution has since been found, and the destruction of two sorting plants in a catastrophic august 2020 explosion at Beirut port worsened the problem.
For the community,Behind the scenes at Drive Throw, the recyclables are sorted carefully, while the plastic is later shredded and cleaned.The two facilities have taken in a total of 450 tonnes of recyclables, founder Baaklini said, adding that the materials are sold to both local and international clients.
“What we are doing here is also about education" and awareness-raising, he said, as school students sometimes visit the facility to learn about recycling.
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