Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine and Environment Minister Tamara Elzein inaugurate an infectious medical waste treatment center at the Beirut Governmental University Hospital in the Karantina district, on Jan. 16, 2026. (Photo: NNA)
Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine and his Environment counterpart Tamara Elzein on Friday inaugurated a center for the treatment of infectious medical waste at the Beirut Governmental University Hospital in the Karantina neighborhood, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. Presented as "the first of its kind in a public hospital in Lebanon," this facility aims to improve hospital waste management in the capital and Mount Lebanon.
Costing $2.7 million, the project was funded by a European Union grant under the TaDWIR program, supported by the EU and implemented under the supervision of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Currently, about 60 percent of infectious medical waste is treated in Lebanon. Thanks to this new center, the rate is expected to rise to nearly 80 percent. With a treatment capacity of six tons per day, the unit can handle waste from all public and private hospitals in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Income generated by this activity will be returned to the hospital.
The center's operations will officially begin after a public tender is launched in the coming days by the Health Ministry, to select the entity responsible for project implementation.
The hospital's board chairman, Michel Matar, emphasized that this center introduces "one of the most advanced technologies in the world for medical waste treatment" to Lebanon.
He specified that the unit uses microwave technology, "a safe and efficient method that does not rely on incineration." With a technical capacity of 250 kilograms per hour, or up to six tons per day, the center will fulfill the hospital's needs while offering its services to other public and private healthcare facilities.
Nasreddine reaffirmed his ministry's commitment to supporting public hospitals, which are engaged in "a process of development and modernization." He recalled the recent announcement of a comprehensive executive plan to equip the country's 33 public hospitals, for a total of $95 million, funded by the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
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