Plastic Pollution in the Mediterranean and Public-Private Partnerships to Manage It - A Case Study in Lebanon

Hazards of plastic pollution in the oceans threaten human, animal, and vegetation life. Sources of plastic pollutants include marine transport activity, shore-to-shore movement by waves and currents, and waste transported from land to sea by rivers. Industries in several countries in the Mediterranean region, which generate waste dispose it in rivers or into municipal networks. The justify their activities as drivers of local economies, while a closer look shows the opposite. A case study is presented about Lebanon, a country on the Mediterranean easternmost boundary serving as a maritime transit gate to the rest of the Middle East. Private sector companies could play a major role in curbing plastic pollution through innovation to migrate toward green products and substitutes to plastics. Both remedial and preventive strategies in the private sector would be better realized through support from public sector entities. Therefore, public-private partnerships are recommended to alleviate current pressures exerted on local communities willing to fight plastic pollution and help them operate within known and supported norms. As such, we recommend incentive-based public policies