Lebanon
To compensate for the Lebanese government’s inefficiency in managing waste, which led to an eight-month crisis in 2015, Georges Bitar created Live Love Recycle.
Launched last April, the system offers Beirut’s citizens a free, on-demand service for collecting recyclable waste.
The initiative is more than welcome in the Lebanese capital, where waste is thrown away unsorted in a single plastic bag, before ending up in coastal landfills and then probably the Mediterranean Sea or else being burned in the streets.
To gain access, users must download the Live Love Recycle mobile application. Two clicks and one half-hour later, an e-bike comes to their doorsteps to pick up their recyclable waste, then delivers it to another Lebanese NGO for proper disposal.
All 400 of Live Love Recycle’s e-bike couriers are Syrian, and the project also employs around 20 women from vulnerable communities to prepare meals for the team members.
“Providing hundreds of job opportunities to women and people from vulnerable communities makes Live Love Recycle a 100% social initiative,” said Bitar.
To compensate for the Lebanese government’s inefficiency in managing waste, which led to an eight-month crisis in 2015, Georges Bitar created Live Love Recycle.
Launched last April, the system offers Beirut’s citizens a free, on-demand service for collecting recyclable waste.
The initiative is more than welcome in the Lebanese capital, where waste is thrown away unsorted in a single plastic bag, before ending up in coastal landfills and then probably the Mediterranean Sea or else being burned in the streets.
To gain access, users must download the Live Love Recycle mobile application. Two clicks and one half-hour later, an e-bike comes to their doorsteps to pick up their recyclable waste, then delivers it to another Lebanese NGO for proper disposal.
All 400 of Live Love Recycle’s e-bike couriers are Syrian, and the project also employs around 20 women from vulnerable communities to prepare meals for the team members.
“Providing hundreds of job opportunities to women and people from vulnerable communities makes Live Love Recycle a 100% social initiative,” said Bitar.
