The Lebanese government may have adopted a waste management plan in March 2016 that put an end to the most visible aspects of the 2015 garbage crisis, but decades of waste mismanagement have dangerous and long-term implications for public health.
Mousa, a 35-year-old gardener, lives close to a dump in Chehabiyeh in south Lebanon. “They burn at least three truckloads of trash a day: nylon, plastic, household waste, everything,” he told Al-Monitor. “My 4-year-old daughter has [allergic reactions] all over her body, but we can’t relocate. We have no money and no support from the government.”