Scrapyard owners in Tripoli organized a sit-in Friday in front of the city's port to protest a decision by the governor of North Lebanon, Ramzi Nohra, ordering the closure of these establishments where tires are recurrently burned. This practice, which allows copper wires in the tires to be recovered for resale, is a significant ecological scourge for the city and has been condemned multiple times.

Present at the sit-in, the president of the Union of Workers' Syndicates of North Lebanon, Shadi al-Sayed, stated that "workers and depot owners are victims of an injustice by the governor" and that "many workers and their families will suffer from it." "This decision heavily impacts depots that comply with the law and regulations," he further denounced. Finally, he threatened an "escalation if these depots are not reopened quickly," calling for "a new decision before the holiday."

The scrapyard owners in Tripoli had blocked the highway linking the large city of North Lebanon to the Beddaoui area, as well as several adjacent roads, on Wednesday to protest the governor's decision, based on residents’ complaints and the health and environmental risks.

Last week, at least three major fires were reported in the heart of Tripoli. Scrapyard owners are incinerating, in wild dumps located in urban areas, a mixture of tires, electric cables, scrap metal and plastic or metal waste to extract copper or iron, which they then resell for a few handfuls of dollars.

With each fire, nauseating odors spread throughout the city, making the air unbreathable for several hours, or even more in neighborhoods near the incineration sites.