Adonis Diaries

 

A Series of White Papers on the Garbage Crisis in Lebanon

Issue #1: Sukleen’s Waste Mangement; Reality versus Myth Author: Sahar Tarhini

Why do we need White Papers on garbage?

The majority of the Lebanese public opinion is shaped by the information shared on mass media and social media.

A lot of that information is misrepresented in a way that limits the reader’s ability to build a sound opinion regarding a public issue.

Within today’s chaotic disputes around the garbage crisis, YEF wants to share sound information that can positively feed into the ongoing debates. Within this framework, and with the support of YEF’s research interns, a series of white papers are being published on the garbage crisis in Lebanon.

This is the first white paper of the series and its focus is on Sukleen’s track record for managing waste in Lebanon.

We will look into contract conditions, prices, and actual implementation

Background Information

Sukleen has been contracted by the Lebanese government to collect the waste in Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon since 1994.

In 1997 following the closing of the Bourj Hammoud dump site, the government decided to implement an Emergency Waste Management plan.

In 1998, the contract with Sukleen was expanded to include its partner organization, Sukomi. Both are divisions of the parent company Averda, which operates throughout the Arab region, and has expanded significantly since 2008 with major investments coming from Growthgate Capital.

Sukomi was charged with management of the then newly designated landfill in Naameh.

Since 1998, Sukleen/Sukomi has been responsible for the garbage collection, partial recycling and treatment, and landfilling, while the Lebanese government is responsible for providing the landfills.

Although the contract expired on July 17 2015, Sukleen continued to collect waste.

According to Averda, during the contract period, there were more than 1500 laborers collecting and processing 2500 tons of garbage per day at the recycling plants. However, the Naameh landfill far surpassed its maximum capacity of 2 million tons, and this is why the garbage crisis started.

So far Sukleen has refused to participate in any new waste management tenders. (But the government let it resume the collect and weeping part for $50 million for 18 months?)

What do the contracts with Sukleen/Sukomi state? Contract Description		Contractor		Contract Dates		Period		Total Amount Paid by CDR		Source of Funding
COLLECTION & SWEEPING Estimated Cost from 1995 – 2015 USD 780 Million	Solid Waste collection and sweeping of Greater Beirut and its surroundings		Sukleen		Dec 1995 – Aug 2007 (with extensions)		12 years		USD 383 Million (estimate)		Independent Municipal Fund
Solid Waste collection and sweeping of Greater Beirut and its surroundings		Sukleen		Sep 2007 – Apr 2015		8 years		USD 384 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
Supervision of garbage collection in Greater Beirut and its surroundings		DG Jones & Partners		Mar 1996 – Apr 2015		19 years		USD 13 Million		Council of Development & Reconstruction
PROCESSING WASTE Estimated Cost from 1998 – 2015 USD 684 Million	Operating and Maintenance of a Household solid waste processing plants for Greater Beirut and its surrounding (Aamroussiyeh and Karantina)		Sukomi		Jun 1998 – May 2008		10 yeas		USD 284 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
Operating and Maintenance of a Household solid waste processing plants for Greater Beirut and its surrounding (Aamroussiyeh and Karantina)		Sukomi		Aug 2007 – Apr 2015		8 years		USD 372 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
Supervision of Processing Plant Operations		Laceco		Jun 1998 – May 2008		8 years		USD 13 Million (estimate)		Independent Municipal Fund
Supervision of Processing Plant Operations		Laceco		Jun 2007 – Apr 2015		8 years		USD 15 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
LANDFILLING Estimated Cost from 1998 – 2015 USD 607 Million	Designing and Operating Sanitary Landfill for Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon		Sukomi		Jan 1998 – Feb 2008		10 years		USD 233 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
Designing and Operating Sanitary Landfill for Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon		Sukomi		Aug 2007 – Apr 2015		8 years		USD 346 Million		Independent Municipal Fund
Supervision of Sanitary Landfill Operations for Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon		Laceco		Jan 1998 – Feb 2008		10 years		USD 13 Million (estimate)		Independent Municipal Fund
Supervision of Sanitary Landfill Operations for Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon		Laceco		May 2007 – Apr 2015		8 years		USD 15 Million		Independent Municipal Fund

 

Its scheduled closure date was set on the 17th of January 2015. This deadline was extended twice for a 3-month period, the last being on 17 July 2015.

What is Sukleen’s current position?

Sukleen serves municipalities that have provided alternative temporary storage space for baled waste. The management of these sites is the responsibility of the municipality, and Sukleen’s role in this instance is solely the haulage to the site.

Sukleen has been instructed by the Government, in the absence of any other solution, to continue the street cleaning and waste collection services for the transition period and until the new contractors are in place.

According to Sukleen’s website, it has decided not to participate in the recent Waste Management tenders for Lebanon due to the following considerations:

1. Sukleen cannot secure and provide new landfill locations.

2. The pre-requisite diversion from landfill and recycling rates cannot be achieved within six months.

3. The method of collection which has been in place for the last twenty years, and is also stipulated in the new tender, is based around the collection of bins from streets and curbsides. Today, with the continuing urbanization, population growth and the increase in vehicular traffic, this operating model is no longer appropriate and requires a modern, progressive approach and methodology.

What is Sukleen’s role in Chehayeb’s current Waste Management Plan?

(Chehayeb is the minister of agriculture but was appointed to handle the garbage crisis. Why? He is the same minister to handled the Bour Hammoud crisis in 1997 and was paid handsome on the side for dealing with his militia leader Walid Jumblat to open the Na3emeh landfill. Chehayeb has been meeting with representatives of the youth movements with expertise in waste management, but refuses to take notes or care for their inputs and solutions)

The Cabinet extended one part of Sukleen’s contract for 18 months. The extension covers the process of collecting garbage only. The section related to treating garbage and managing landfills is not part of the plan.

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Costs	USD$/ton
Collection	25
Sorting	26
Bailing	16
Wrapping	13
Landfilling	52 (from 0 to 400,000 ton/year) 38 (from 400,001 to 500,000 ton/year) 45 (› 500,001 ton/year)
Composting	30
Total	130

Based on the above table, we can see how much each of the waste management contractors were paid by the Council of Development and Reconstruction over the past 20 years. Contractor	Amount Paid	Period
Sukleen	USD 767 Million	1995 – 2015
Sukomi	USD 1,235 Million	1998 – 2015
Laceco	USD 56 Million	1998 – 2015
DG Jones & Partners	USD 13 Million	1996 – 2015
TOTAL	USD 2,071 Million	1995 – 2015