Why waste waste? Going green in southern Lebanon (AFP)

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Now the demolished building has been rebuilt -- and with it aground-breaking environmental project has risen from its own ashes.
In a country with serious waste management problems, thewar-ravaged small town of Aytarun in the south lies in the vanguardof recycling, setting an example it is hoped will be followed byothers.
Located just metres (yards) from the frontier, Aytarun wasdevastated by the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in July and August two years ago.
On the village's edge is the Centre for Solid Waste Management , a 700-square-metre (875-square-yard) structure rebuilt withItalian assistance after the conflict.
The centre refuses to dump any waste at all.
"Everything is recycled, nothing is thrown away," saysZiad Abichaker of Cedar Environmental, a group that specialises inrecycling technology.
"We wanted to create the example of a rural town which notonly gets rid of its waste but also uses it to benefit organicagriculture.
"Some things are stored as we research and develop outlets forthem," Abichaker adds, saying shoes can be used in a specialcement for the manufacture of public benches.
The facility's five employees patiently sort through potatopeelings, plastic bottles and old clothing before recycling propercan begin.
In many rural areas of Lebanon municipalities burn solid waste,causing an unbearable stench and often sparking wildcat forestfires.
"People did not like the smell of burning rubbish. Thisproject is a blessing for them," Abichaker says of thetraditional method of incineration.
Sawsan Bou Fakhreddine of the Association for Forests, Developmentand Conservation says domestic waste forms 90 percent of all thecountry's rubbish.
"We produce 1.5 million tons of solid waste annually in Lebanon , half of it organic," she adds.
Landfills are overflowing, and the largest -- in the southern cityof Sidon -- is at serious risk of collapsing into the sea.
"The major problem is the lack of a national managementplan," Bou Fakhreddine says, and cites a 1997 governmentemergency plan aimed at tackling the problem. It didn't work.
One site intended for "40 percent of the waste ended upgetting 80 percent, and it expanded in a way that was not at allenvironmentally friendly," she adds.
Cedar Environmental is not the first project of its kind insouthern Lebanon, which suffered widespread devastation during thewar.
In Aytarun the goal is zero percent waste. The "greenengineers" process organic matter into compost foragricultural use in what is, quite literally, a growth area.
A truck collects six tons of household waste daily from the town ofsome 8,000 residents and from the nearby hamlet of Blida. This isthen processed by locally made machinery.
The "star" is a compost drum in which organic matter ismixed with an enzyme mixture to accelerate fermentation over threedays.
"The composting process is based on aerobic fermentation whichmakes the reaction faster and odourless," says Abichaker.
Conveyor belts carry raw compost to a trommel screen for sifting.
"The compost passes through several times to be purified andthen we let it mature for two weeks," he says.
"Our humus, which is very pure, meets European standards forcompost to be used in organic agriculture.
"At the moment we give the compost to Aytarun farmers forfree. I planted 3,000 square metres of organic wheat on anexperimental basis to encourage them," adds Abichaker.
The June harvest was most encouraging.
Abichaker tested his compost on three different plots of land. Onewas planted using no fertilizer, another was planted using aboutthree cubic metres of compost, and the third used about six cubicmetres.
"The third had the best results by far in growth and yield.Next year I'm going to plant 20 acres (eight hectares) even if Ihave to take out a loan."
Turning traditional agricultural methods organic is "thefuture of agriculture in Lebanon ," the engineer believes.
"Lebanon stopped growing wheat because it was cheaper toimport it. Now with rising wheat prices we will grow it and sellit. We are growing it organically so we can even sell it formore," he adds.
Nothing is left to chance at the recycling centre. Plastic bottlesand cans are flattened with a press then sold.
"We will install an annex to the recycling unit where usedclothing will be washed and have any metal removed before beingsold as fabric to furniture manufacturers," says Abichaker.
The profits will go to the local municipality.
"Nothing is burned, nothing hidden underground. This is anexample of an industry with no environmental impact," he says,adding that he hopes to see his method expand throughout Lebanon.
"It's a snowball effect and we're in the initial stages. Ifevery four or five villages start a similar project, there won't behousehold waste problems in Lebanon any more."