Trust and armed conflict in solid waste management: A case study of the Al-Fayhaa Union, Lebanon

Solid Waste Management is of increasing global concern as urban populations continue to rise. Effective solid waste management is critical for maintaining a good quality, healthy environment. Lebanon is considered to have poor management of solid waste and this is associated with social destabilization caused by armed conflict. In fact, Lebanon has a solid waste crisis long ago and there has not been an efficient or well-implemented national policy on solid waste management for many years. To better understand the context of constraints on solid waste management in Lebanon, a case study was analyzed in the Al-Fayhaa Union area of north-western Lebanon. Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping was used as a participatory approach methodology to reveal and compare the perceptions and understandings of stakeholders in the public sector, private sector, and community grassroots. A roundtable discussion workshop was organized and the total of 29 stakeholders participated in total. The results indicate that all three stakeholder groups considered trust relationships as a key factor that both affects, and is affected by, solid waste management. The private sector and the community grassroots groups also considered armed conflicts to be an important factor. The aggregated “social” map showed that “Lack of trust relationships” and “Armed conflict” were rated in the top five variables that affect solid waste management in Lebanon.