Composting at the household level in Lebanon: A creative solution for solid waste management

This paper describes an intervention to solve a solid waste problem in a small agricultural village of 3,750 inhabitants in the South of Lebanon. The village lacks a waste dumpster, collection occurs only once every 4 days, and the number of existing disposal barrels is insufficient. Previous attempts to remedy these problems failed, heralding the need for a creative alternative. A household survey on perceptions and practices of solid waste management was conducted with 83 homes in the village and revealed that 81.5% were ready to sort organic wastes. The findings were discussed in a town meeting and the decision was made to train community members on composting techniques at the household level. Twenty-seven participants were trained; each received a barrel for composting placed in his/her backyard and a weighing scale. The primary outcome of the intervention will be volume of solid waste. A pre-post evaluation design was chosen. The participants weighed the waste for a period of two weeks before beginning the composing project. Currently the participants are in the process of composting and wastes are being weighed daily. If the results indicate that composting contributes to a significant reduction of solid waste, the participants will disseminate the concept and practice of composting to the larger community. Since 50% of the village land is cultivated, the compost will be used for agricultural purposes. This presentation will describe the needs assessment and the intervention, share results in terms of solid waste volume, and discuss implications for future policy and practice.