In March 2016, Bikfaya municipality designated a 2,000 square meter, municipal-owned land in its industrial zone and hired local engineers to build its waste sorting facility (AKA BiClean) with a capacity of approximately 10–15 tons of solid waste per day. At the technical level, the Bikfaya SWM system is quite simple with its sorting facility ‘Biclean’ relying on a door-to-door collection process based on household primary sorting. After 5 years of operations, major challenges impeded progress due to the incorrect sorting of waste at source due to lack of continuous education and awareness activities, as well as lack of monitoring and verification of sorting quality. To address this issue, the municipality partnered with Nadeera, a social enterprise with a core focus on SWM technologies, to promote sorting-at-source and maximize material recovery.

Prior to the deployment of Nadeera’s services, a baseline study to identify current gaps in the system was conducted. This included socio-economic profiling of the local population, reviewing laws and regulations related to solid waste management in Lebanon, assessing solid waste practices including: generation rates/compositions, source-separation practices, storage/collection and treatment. Moreover,  an evaluation of the ongoing and completed campaigns and incentives related to source-separation practices was conducted. This led to an accurate definition of the scope and target area of the intervention and to setting quantifiable targets (segregation rates, prevention and reuse rates) that are aligned with national strategies. To this end, Nadeera’s intervention was designed according to the baseline data, and has included information about technical requirements, operating model, and the needed resource. The following is an overview of the conducted activities after the baseline study:

1. Conducting waste composition assessment and inspection activity and holding consultation meetings with  local public authorities for the deployment of a small pilot study
2. Dissemination of a town-wide KAB (Knowledge, Attitude, & Behavioral) survey  in collaboration with a behavioral science research team from Yale University and the University of Gothenburg. The findings of the survey provided details about the quality of sorting.
3. Mobilising shops and commercial entities to join Nadeera Marketplace, which allows residents to benefit from discounts and offers at local shops through their Nadeera points, which they can acquire in return for proper sorting of waste. The commercial institutions would in turn benefit from an increased inflow of revenue brought by more customers.
4. Conducting a second round of manual sorting by the municipality in its facility ‘BiClean’, using conveyors designed by a local team followed by compression of separated waste. The compressed waste is then sold or transported to facilities responsible for their further treatment or final disposal. No incineration or dumping occurs in the process.

A recycling and sorting approach has enabled the municipality to face the 2015 waste crisis more effectively than most other municipalities in Lebanon. The BiClean SWM system was made possible through a unique cooperation between individuals, social entrepreneurs and organizations sharing similar specific social objectives. This replicable model was also enabled by the engagement of local NGOs, schools, companies, and trained volunteers.

Other key factors contributing to this success include citizens’ participation that was facilitated by the Nadeera app which provided an interactive, inclusive, and gamified experience to waste sorting. In addition, monitoring and verification via waste inspection system contributed to accountability, while moral (sorting score) and financial (points and discounts) incentives to the residents have also fulfilled an important role to drive the needed behavioral transformation.