During his visit to the Municipality of Ainab last Saturday, Minister of Environment Fadi Jreissati highlighted the need to adopt sorting from the source as a means to solve the country’s waste problem. As the Municipality of Ainab has already taken sorting from the source as a daily practice, Jreissati encouraged other municipalities to follow the track. He declared that this is not an option, but a national duty that should be deemed.
“First of all, I would like to thank UN-HABITAT, and this is the beginning of cooperation between us, a cooperation aimed at serving four municipalities on the issue of barrels and sorting from the source,” said Jreissati.
“The UN chose these towns. Unfortunately, we cannot serve the entire Lebanese regions, so we selected some model villages to witness this distinction. And I want you to know that there is a huge responsibility pinned on these villages, for if the experiment fails in any chosen village, it will impact our whole course in this respect,” he added.
“There is a decree on sorting that was passed and approved two weeks ago, within the plan endorsed by the state, and this is very essential because for the first time there is a decree and a legal framework for this issue… The subject of sorting from the source has become a national duty and no longer an option,” he asserted.
With such decrees and initiatives taken, the Lebanese citizen must take into consideration each action he/she makes, be more eco-friendly, and try to save our environment in each possible way.
The Minister praised the presence of women in the encounter at the Municipality. “This is a very positive and helpful factor in sorting waste from the source,” he declared. With the National Action Plan endorsed by the Lebanese government, hopefully, more women will be present in the municipalities and other governmental institutions.
Besides, on October 1st, there will be a press conference with the Supermarkets’ Association regarding plastic bags. Jreissati said, “Starting from October 15th, customers will have to pay 100LL for each plastic bag they purchase in the supermarket!”
“If we do not change our bad habits and decide that there is a quantity we can recycle…and if we do not proceed to sort from the source, we would be forced to lose more money and areas of land,” cautioned the Environment Minister.
