Challenge

As the fourth largest city in Lebanon, Tyre is home to a rich cultural heritage, a harbor, beaches, and a coastal nature reserve. For decades in Tyre, all municipal solid waste (MSW) was dumped next to the main irrigation channel in the sandy coastline of Ras El Ain.  Nearby springs, historically, have provided drinking water to the city of 117,000. But with a land area of about 1,000,000 hectares and a population of nearly 4,000,000 people, the country of Lebanon is confronted with environmental challenges of most Mediterranean coastal areas: protecting coastal waters and preventing soil erosion and deforestation. To that end, the country enacted a national plan to manage solid waste.

Solution

When the Union of the Municipalities of Tyre needed to reduce unregulated municipal solid waste (MSW) dumping, and the associated environmental and health risks, the Union council decided to install a facility to compost up to 150 tons per day of MSW. They selected a Siemens Water Technologies IPS Composting System, which is an enclosed in-vessel, agitated, aerated automated process system that also includes biofiltration odor control. The Union selected the system for its ability to transform a highly variable and contaminated waste stream into high quality compost in an efficient timeframe.

Results

The composting facility, designed and equipped by Grossimex sarl of Lebanon, incorporates a process that consists of a number of steps, from MSW receiving to active composting, refining, curing and end-product distribution. The facility is enclosed to contain and control odor, and is also equipped with a ventilation system designed to maintain negative pressure in the entire building. All the air is pulled out with 12 fans directly to three 646 m² biofilters. The facility is covered by 7,250 m² of rigid steel, including 2,450 m² for the receiving and separation zones, and 4,800 m² (10 bays, each 53 m long, 2 m wide and 2.16 m high) for the composting line. The curing area is 1500 m². When started up at the end of 2010, the Tyre facility will be able to process 46,800 tons of MSW per year.