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The “Zero Waste” concept and the Arab World

Mr. Wael Hmaidan
Executive Director of IndyACT
Steering Committee member of GAIA
Address: Ein El Mreiseh, Van Dyke str., El-Khalil bldg., B12
Tel/Fax: +961-1-362592
mobile: +961-3-506313
P.O.Box: 14-5472, Beirut, Lebanon

The alarmingly steep waste generation rates in the Arab world coupled with the ominous future predictions for growth, calls for us to rethink the way we are managing our waste. Developing countries lack the resources and infrastructure to dispose of their waste by traditional means whereby most villages in rural areas still rely on uncontrolled burning of their waste. On the other side of the spectrum, wealthier Arab nations have become conscious of their responsibility to the environment and have installed state-of-the-art treatment and disposal technologies. Yet, the question to be asked is how effective and sustainable are these end-of-pipe technologies when consumption patterns in these countries are competing with Western nations. Zero Waste, a relatively recent concept based on material management principles, may hold the key to our looming waste crisis, and can be adapted to both sides of the spectrum. The focus of decision makers in some developing and developed nations is slowly but steadily shifting to this broader and more sustainable solution – that of integrated material management or ‘Zero Waste’. Policy makers are questioning the logic behind focusing on disposal as a solution to wasted materials when it is more economical and environmentally sustainable to recover all discarded materials and gradually phase out those that are not “recoverable”. Total industrial systems, from design, extraction, production and distribution are being rethought.
The speaker will investigate the “applicability” of the principles of Zero Waste to the developing and developed Arab states. The lecture will recommend material management practices to achieve sustainable solution to waste by conserving our finite resources and eliminating unsustainable and polluting end-of-pipe disposal technologies.
 

Application for Participation (PDF)