The people of Lebanon have an idea to solve their country's mounting garbage crisis—why not turn it over to the war-torn neighbors?
According to a report by Lebanon's Arabic daily Al-Joumhouria newspaper, Syrian authorities have agreed to take part of the waste that's been piling up in Lebanon since this summer. Iraq has also expressed interest in helping out.
Lebanon's trashy problem started in July, when sanitation workers across the country went on strike demanding the closure of the dangeosly overfilled Naameh landfill, southeast of Beirut. Widespread protests broke out over the piling trash in Beirut and other areas, the product of which is the #YouStink campaign rocking Lebanon today.
Meanwhile, the newspaper said authorities in Syria likely accepted the stinky challenge as a sort of informal thanks to Lebanon for hosting some 1.5 million Syrian refugees. But apparently made by unnamed Lebanese "personalities" through unofficial channels across the border, the deal has yet to be confirmed.
Now the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture's laid out a waste management initiative plan to transport trash to different landfills across Lebanon for the next 18 months. Al-Joumhouria's report says if that doesn't work, giving chunks of the trash to Syria and Iraq is an idea that would be put on the table for real.
Sound like something out of The Onion? We wish it was.
