Greater Beirut Landfill
A boost of electricity for the city
Project description
The Greater Beirut Sanitary landfill project is part of an integrated solid waste management system that incorporates the design, construction and operation/maintenance of two sanitary landfill sites in Naameh and Bsalim to the south and North of Beirut, respectively.
The two landfills are former quarry sites that were restored and designed as contained waste management facilities with a total footprint area exceeding 300,000 m2. The adopted design was developed in accordance to the British standards, ensuring the installation of an impermeable composite lining and a full environmental control system including: leachate collection and treatment, landfill gas control, surface water management and monitoring, groundwater and air quality monitoring.
Over a period of 18 years, the project received a total of approximately 11M tons of the rejects resulting from the sorting and composting processes undertaken for the waste generated in the Greater Beirut Area and a significant part of Mount Lebanon where 50% of the country’s population resides.
Final Capping works are ongoing at the Naameh site and the capped areas are vegetated using Hydroseeding technology.
The brief
The CDR aimed to achieve the following objectives:
- Controlling the chaotic waste management situation in Beirut following the end of the Lebanese civil war
- Ensuring the landfill sites are designed, constructed and operated in accordance to the British standards
- Controlling the impacts of the project on the environment throughout the project lifecycle.
Our response
Laceco responded to the above objectives by:
- Preparing EIA studies for the two sites to identify the potential impacts and recommend the necessary mitigation measures
- Controlling and validating the design development process to ensure compliance with British codes and standards
- Supervising and controlling the quality of construction activities
- Supervising the day to day operation and maintenance activities
- Ensuring the implementation of environmental monitoring practices
- Managing the contract on behalf of the Client
Interesting facts
- The British standards are the most stringent when it comes to sanitary landfills design
- The Naameh Landfill geographic location in a natural valley within an old quarry site added a challenge and a complexity level to the design process and necessitated extensive infrastructure works
- The Biogas produced from the Naameh Landfill is converted to electrical power that is supplied to the villages in the vicinity of the landfill
