Rawan Al-Amin
This report reveals legal and environmental violations at a sorting plant in Saida, southern Lebanon, which have exacerbated the city’s waste crisis. The report also documents the plant operator’s failure to respond to numerous “official” requests to regulate and improve its operations in accordance with environmental and legal standards.
The scene of Saida “drowning” in waste has been ongoing for two years. Containers overflow with garbage on the streets. Foul odors spread throughout the city, negatively affecting the health of Saida’s residents and those in neighboring areas.
The company IBC SAL has been operating a waste treatment plant in Saida for approximately 13 years, during which the environmental conditions in the city have deteriorated and garbage has become a constant in people’s lives. This situation could only have come about through legal violations and negligence, leading to an appalling reality.
The plant does not have an operating license from the Ministry of Industry to this day! Its construction license (which has expired) was issued on December 17, 2013, under Decision No. 4147. The company was officially registered in Lebanese state records on January 28, 2016, under number 5006413, even though it was “officially approved” by the Council of Ministers in 2012, which means that it was built illegally.
Foreigners account for approximately 86 percent of the company’s shareholders, most of whom are Saudi. This is in violation of Lebanese trade law, which stipulates that no less than one-third of the board of directors must be Lebanese.
The plant was built on the coast south of the city of Saida, near a river and groundwater wells. The disclosures obtained by ARIJ repeatedly mention requests by the Lebanese Ministries of Environment and Industry to conduct environmental impact tests on groundwater and on materials inside the plant. These requests show that the plant did not conduct an environmental impact study before the project was established, nor did it issue any periodic reports throughout its operation. The two ministries also requested data explaining the Saida plant’s operating mechanism and the nature of the materials produced and sold.
According to minutes of a meeting attended by a representative of the Ministry of Environment, activists, and observers of this case, and issued by the Ministry of Environment in 2019, the factory “only responds in writing on some matters; it violated the recommendation of the ministry’s engineer by temporarily burying waste and transferring it to a landfill.” The minutes also pointed to “suspected collusion” with the municipal authorities, as the municipality granted ownership of the land on which the factory was built to the factory itself, even though it was public property, and awarded it a contract despite its “illegality.” We have not received any response from the Saida municipality regarding these “allegations,” despite attempts to contact them by phone, fax, and email.
According to field visits documented in several reports, the factory contains equipment, machinery, generators, treatment plants, an anaerobic digester, belts, and taps. All of these devices are either broken, malfunctioning, or not working properly. The corridors inside the plant are dirty with leaking liquids; waste is scattered everywhere, and some sections are closed off.
All of these facts raise an urgent question: Could IBC SAL have been able to continue to exclusively operate the plant for all these years without being held accountable, if it weren’t for political cover and, therefore, material benefits for those concerned?
Despite all this information, which proves legal violations and environmental violations, statements have been made by some ministers, MPs, and Saida municipal officials stating that they are “not sure of any pollution caused by the plant.” Other causes of pollution are often cited, far removed from the Saida plant, such as the breakdown of the sewage treatment plant, inaccurate studies, and other reasons.
To document the Saida plant’s violations and the resulting ongoing environmental pollution, we have supported this report with numerous documents accompanied by field reports from representatives of the Ministries of Environment and Industry, gathered over several years and at different times of the year.
While working on this report, we contacted the then Minister of Environment, Nasser Yassin, several times by phone and email, but he did not respond to questions, accusations, or violations related to the plant. He merely stated that he had “forwarded the file to the relevant department because he did not know the details.”
A collection of documents issued between 2021 and 2024 show the accumulation of waste around and inside the plant, frequent fires, and several attempts to restart the plant. Older documents from 2016 to 2019 show a decline in the plant’s capacity to operate and its failure to comply with its original plans, as well as the beginning of waste accumulation.
Although in 2019 there were serious attempts to solve the plant’s problems and carry out studies and inspections, as shown in some reports from 2018 and 2019, these were contradicted by other reports, accompanied by figures and evidence incriminating the plant’s management.
All of this information points to the “supporting party” behind this plant. For the people of Saida, there is only one party that could convince the Saudis to invest in this project: the city’s representatives in parliament, Bahia Hariri and Fouad Siniora. In addition, there is Mohammed al-Saudi, mayor from 2010 to 2023⸺a period that saw legal and environmental violations at the plant. This coincided with attempts to silence environmental activists and a media blackout on environmental and legal issues related to the Saida plant.
We did not find any “serious” government studies assessing the environmental impact of this plant. Therefore, we relied on official documents and records, as well as the opinions of some environmental and health experts, to document the environmental impact of the Saida plant. It appears that the plant does not produce any high-quality outputs or materials from the treated waste that can be reused. In addition, there is a mountain of waste that, just by passing by, causes nausea and suffocation.
The plant is located at the beach, south of the city of Saida. It pollutes four water sources: the sea, the Sinik River, groundwater wells, and the lake inside the plant. During diving expeditions carried out by the “Anadi Act” association in 2014 and the “La Fasad” (No Corruption) association in 2017, hundreds of tons of garbage were found, including clothes racks, car tires, electronic waste, household and medical waste, and other material that is difficult to decompose, such as iron, glass, wood, fabric, and plastic. These were swept northward by sea currents and scattered across the sea basin. Some were washed back to other parts of the shore, while others were wedged inrocks and turned into “frightening” piles of waste.
All of this has made the coastal towns north of Saida vulnerable to water and beach pollution, according to Dr. Joanna Dammar, Head of the Earth Sciences Department at the American University of Beirut.
Some documents obtained by ARIJ focused on the danger posed by the lake (basin) inside the plant, confirming that it is “the most polluted place in Lebanon.” According to Mohammed al-Majzoub, an engineer and environmental activist in Saida, the lake was formed when the sea was filled in to bury the old “garbage mountain” on an area of about 50,000 square meters.
According to the documents, toxic chemicals are dumped into the lake, along with tannery waste and sewage. NTCC, the company responsible for collecting garbage from containers in Saida and transporting it to the plant, also dumped waste there daily.
According to documents dating back to 2016, and experts and specialists we interviewed while working on the report, the plant uses the lake “to dispose of everything, including medical waste and exhaust fumes, which cause foul odors.”.
In minutes of a 2019 meeting, the Lebanese Ministry of Environment demanded that the lake water be tested to determine its environmental impact on groundwater wells, emphasizing that the bottom of the lake be tested. However, we found no documented results for this request. Al-Majzoub,confirmed that “There was a serious decision to get rid of the lake that year by filling it in, i.e. closing it, without considering the fate of the polluted water. The project, cost nine billion Lebanese pounds (equivalent to six million US dollars at the time). For reasons unclear to us, the tender file was entrusted to the Higher Relief Commission , and the project was not implemented for political, economic, and security reasons in 2019.”
Al-Majzoub added that “Funding for the project was halted at that time, and the contractor filled in part of the lake with whatever money he could muster… The project to fill in the lake remains on the municipality’s agenda to this day, with the aim of dumping the waste currently accumulated in Saida. Thanks to our efforts and support from the Ministry of Environment, this decision has been halted.”
With regard to the Sinik River, located south of the plant, it originates in villages east of the city of Saida and flows into its south. ARIJ obtained a video posted by one of the city’s activists showing the plant disposing of toxic chemical sediments into the river, which in turn flows into the sea.
Dr. Joanna Dammar reported “a change in the color of the river water.” She added, “Scientifically, the water moves northward, but because of the direct discharge of waste into the river, this approach may have contributed to the pollution.” She also pointed to the need to test the river water to confirm the concentration of harmful substances.
In 2019, a document confirmed an increase in river pollution, and Mohammed Al-Saudi, the mayor at the time, attributed the cause to a malfunction in the sewage system that leaked into the river.
According to Dr. Dammar, head of the Earth Sciences Department at the American University of Beirut, maps show that marine fill has narrowed the northern river mouth, leading to higher floodwaters along its banks, contributing to its reshaping and coastal erosion. She also warned of the impact this would have on “the fish stocks and biodiversity of Saida and the cities to the north.”
Two reports obtained by ARIJ pointed to frequent fires at the landfill. One of the reports confirmed that waste was being burned on land adjacent to the Saida factory. Other documents mentioned the danger of waste being left in open air, due to the toxic emissions it produces, such as methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide, as these gases adversely affect the nervous and respiratory systems.
Some documents mentioned that foul odors have accompanied the plant since its establishment, but have increased year after year, and point to the malfunctioning of protective filters inside the plant.
According to some reports, inhalation of these gases leads to symptoms such as shortness of breath, allergies, coughing, dizziness, headaches, and nausea. Dr. Salah Zainuddin, director of the American University of Beirut Medical Center and a respiratory specialist, confirmed that these emissions exacerbate conditions such as asthma, fibrosis, and allergies, and accelerate the onset of respiratory diseases in people with genetic predispositions or cancers.
Some documents and scientific reports obtained by ARIJ showed that the waste located near the plant produces a liquid during decomposition, which can form pools that may contain elements such as mercury, lead, acidic water, microplastics, and other pollutants, with the possibility of these substances interacting with each other, which could produce new toxic compounds.
Documents show several environmental violations at the Saida factory.
The reports also mention the presence of rodents, bacteria, and poisonous insects, in addition to dust and ash from crushers and other machinery inside the plant.
Waste sorting in the plant produces organic materials used in anaerobic digestion, or fermentation, which is the conversion of organic waste into fertilizer for agriculture. The sorting process also produces methane gas, which is used to generate electricity through special generators, in addition to plastic, which is recycled before being sold. This process also produces wood, paper, and fabrics that can be burned and converted into alternative fuel for energy production, called “RDF.” Most importantly, according to the plans, there will be no waste, i.e., untreated or unusable waste, which is usually referred to as landfill.
According to the documents, the compost production process was not successful, so the compost was disposed of. Dr. Dammar attributes this to “the presence of oxygen and the presence of organic waste in the compost due to poor sorting, such as fabrics.”
As for plastic, the recycling plant has been shut down, and most plastic waste no longer reaches the center. We observed cars driving around the dumps on the roads and collecting waste, but we were unable to determine its source.
Given all these factors, the plant’s current output is nothing more than “piling up waste” in the open air, polluting the environment, and spoiling the general appearance.
Engineer Mohammad Dandashli, head of the administrative board of the “Raise Your Voice” association (which deals with public affairs in the city of Saida), said that everyone was in favor of and supportive of the Saida plant project because of the great suffering caused by the “old garbage mountain.” However, after reviewing the plant’s plans and work contracts, illegal aspects of the project came to light, according to Dandashli.
He added, “First, we discovered that the land on which the center was built was owned by the municipality, which is against the law, as the property is reclaimed land, meaning it is public property.”
Dandashli pointed out that the municipality justified the transfer of ownership of the land based on an agreement that the plant would not charge a “fee” for treating around 200 tons of Sidon’s waste per day. However, surprisingly, a decree issued by the Council of Ministers revealed that the plant was charging fees for treating Sidon’s waste, amounting to around US$95 per ton, which contradicts the main plan, which stipulates free treatment, according to Dandashli.
Engineer Muhammad Dandashli, head of the administrative board of the “Raise Your Voice” association, added that, “The plant did not comply with the terms of its construction license, which stipulates that it will not burn or bury waste. We were surprised when the municipality asked the Ministry of Public Works for permission to use the land adjacent to the plant to dump waste to turn it into a landfill, but it turned into an unsanitary dump, so we started to take action on the ground. In 2015 and 2016, citizens took to the streets to demonstrate peacefully against this situation.”
In turn, the “Raise Your Voice” association filed a lawsuit with the State Shura Council against the municipality of Saida and the Lebanese State on November 20, 2017, due to legal and environmental violations by the Saida factory.
However, the council dismissed the case five years later, arguing that the activists who filed it did not live within a kilometer of the plant. It should be noted that the lawsuit concerns public maritime property that is gradually being eroded and is closely linked to the principle of environmental protection enshrined in Law 444 of 2002, according to Dandashli.
According to the documents, the plant ceased operations with the change of management in 2021, when the general manager, Nabil Zantout, was dismissed in June and Ahmed al-Sayed was appointed in August of the same year.
The plant did not operate during that period, leading to the accumulation of 40,000 tons of waste. Technical inspections then revealed that many of the mechanisms and devices were broken, and the amount of waste accumulated on the ground adjacent to the plant increased.
As for repairs and the purchase of supplies to restart the plant, a technical study conducted by the Ministry of Environment through a World Bank expert in 2022 estimated the approximate amount to be $863,000.
However, instead of implementing the recommendations, the plant was completely shut down in January 2023, and NTCC stopped collecting waste due to the expiration of its contract. Saida was flooded with garbage for months, until a decision was made to re-contract NTCC through a tender in mid-2024.
Hamza al-Maghribi, a shareholder and founder of IBC SAL, said that the plant’s deterioration is due to its failure to adhere to the original plans, which were based on scientific principles, in order to achieve real waste treatment. He added, “We agreed with the municipality from the outset that waste would be collected within four hours, because organic materials left in the open air will decompose, which in turn affects the quality of production.”
Instead of collecting waste directly from the source, containers are placed on public roads containing different types of waste, which then decompose, emitting foul odors that attract insects and cats, in violation of the minimum environmental safety requirements, according to Al-Maghribi.
The operating company’s failure to apply technical and environmental standards makes it liable to compensate those affected, specifically those living in close proximity to the plant, in addition to bearing responsibility for resolving the crisis that has brought back the “mountain of waste.”
In early 2024, Dr. Hazem Badi, mayor of Saida, issued a decree demanding that the plant take serious measures to resolve the waste crisis in the city. Six months later, he issued another statement praising the improvements made by the plant’s management, while thanking the committee and the management for their joint efforts and confirming that the plant was “on the right track.”
In February 2025, the municipality of Saida issued a memo stating that it had conducted dozens of field visits to the Saida plant and had come up with several recommendations to improve the plant’s operations. It confirmed in its statement that the plant’s management had not adhered to the planned schedule for implementing the treatment and improvement plan, which exacerbated the waste crisis in the city.
However, Wafic al-Hawari, a journalist and community activist in Saida, said that the plant will not be able to implement the “reform plan” for several reasons: “It is not registered with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; therefore, it cannot purchase any equipment. Secondly, it does not have enough workers. Its workforce dropped from450 employees to about 60.”
He added that “The plans do not mention the waste accumulated inside and around the plant, or how it will be removed.”
On the other hand, based on the study submitted by the Ministry of Environment and the French company (technical assessment studies only), the factory needs to be completely rebuilt, which will take a year to complete at a cost of around $9 million, according to Hawari.
This report was produced with the support of ARIJ.
