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Lebanese designers keep waste from going to waste

Eco-friendly Lebanese designers are creating chic clutches and other products from plastic bags, bottles and other discarded materials.
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In a country plagued by a garbage crisis ongoing since summer 2015, several Lebanese designers have rolled up their sleeves to save glass, plastic and rubber from already full landfills. The colorful and practical designs of NK by Nour Kays, Waste Studio and the Green Glass Recycling Initiative Lebanon make chic clutch bags out of plastic bags and maps and cups out of old bottles.

Local and regional initiatives in Lebanon have encouraged people to sort garbage at home or to dispose of plastic, glass and paper at recycling centers, but few nationwide measures have attempted to address the country’s garbage crisis on a larger scale. In this vacuum, some artists and environmental experts have focused their time and energy on finding small-scale solutions that will have a positive effect against the ever-growing number of plastic bags and used bottles. One such initiative is Recycle Lebanon, launched in 2015 with the aim of giving a second life to discarded materials through innovative designs.

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