Caretaker Minister of the Environment, Nasser Yassine during a press conference at the port of Beirut, December 6, 2022. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassine supervised the free shipment of medical waste from the port of Beirut to France for treatment on Tuesday morning.
"We announce today that we are sending three containers of hazardous medical waste, which contains 15 tons. This waste contains material used for cancer," the minister said at a press conference at the port of Beirut. He was accompanied by a representative of the shipping company CMA CGM and Abdel Hamid Mikati, general manager of the sustainable development company, Treveria.
“The cost of shipping is borne by Treveria and the [waste] producing medical institutions,” Yassine said, adding that "Lebanon produces about 70 tons of this type of waste per year."
"These kinds of products must be treated in an incinerator with international specifications and at a temperature of more than 1,400 degrees Celcius. Lebanon does not have such an incinerator. Exporting this waste is therefore the only solution," he explained.
Yassine said the operation had been planned for three years in coordination and with the support of CMA CGM. The waste will cross the territorial waters of eight different countries before reaching France.
"If they are not transported abroad, their environmental impact will be catastrophic for Lebanon, especially for the health of citizens and the pollution of groundwater," Yassine stressed.