Reacting to the Solid Waste Management Crisis: Investigation of a Public-Private Partnership in Lebanon

Sammanfattning: Since 2015, the provision of solid waste management-related services in Lebanon has been severely lacking and environmentally detrimental. This national crisis has led some municipalities and local enterprises to collaborate to implement sustainable solutions to the disposal of waste. This work explores the functioning of one specific partnership established in Lebanon between the municipality of Beit Mery and a local enterprise. To understand how this partnership affects the local and national solid waste management and how it changes the municipality on a social and environmental level, the way in which the partnership has shaped the municipal solid waste management is explored through its stakeholders’ perceptions. The investigation is conducted through semi-structured interviews with representatives of the public and private sectors as well as residents of the municipality and other individuals active in the Lebanese solid waste management sector. The analysis of the data is conducted within the framework of socio-ecological resilience. The findings show that the public-private partnership, by working independently from the state, has allowed for change and improvement in the municipal solid waste management by making it more inclusive, independent and environmentally sustainable. This work sheds light on the dynamics of public-private cooperation initiatives to waste management operating at a local level and it triggers the debate on whether this approach constitutes a viable solution to the current waste crisis across Lebanon.