LEBANON (Enmaeya News) - November 5, 2025

A fully rehabilitated waste-sorting facility in the Karantina district of Beirut remains idle almost five years after its destruction in the Beirut Port explosion, as a dispute between authorities stalls its operation, according to LBCI.

Funded by the World Bank-administered Lebanon Financing Facility and rehabilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in coordination with the Ministry of Environment (Lebanon) and the Municipality of Beirut, the facility was fully restored at a cost of around $6 million. 

However, the Ministry of Environment recently raised the issue in Cabinet after the Beirut Municipality declined to take over operations, citing insufficient operational funding. The Cabinet reportedly approved the municipality’s formal takeover and instructed it to begin operation pending funding.

Mayor Ibrahim Zeidan continues to reject the handover, leaving the plant unused and highlighting Lebanon’s persistent governance and waste-management failings. Waste from Beirut and the surrounding areas continues to be sent directly to landfills without sorting, exacerbating environmental pressures. 

The impasse sends a warning to international donors and investors: despite major infrastructure investment, operational and institutional bottlenecks can nullify project impact and undermine trust in Lebanon’s public-service recovery.