The tenders will set general specifications and output targets for the new facilities and will call for contractors to submit their proposals for the schemes within two months. The bids are due to be opened in mid-January, with awards expected in mid-February.

Each tender will include the construction and operation of sanitary landfills, transfer stations, sorting plants and/or bio-mechanical organic waste treatment facilities.

The largest of the four projects is for a new waste treatment facility for the Beirut and Mount Lebanon region. The contract will require the contractor to operate an existing 2,200-tonne-a-day (t/d) plant and landfill site for approximately a year while it builds the new facility.

The second contract will be for a facility for the North Lebanon and Akkar region, which produces about 750 t/d of waste. A third new plant in the South Lebanon and Nabatiyeh region will have to deal with about 520 t/d, while the fourth plant for the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel region will generate about 420 t/d.

All of the contracts will be for 10 years and split into two phases. In the initial construction phase the contractor will pay for the design and construction of each plant. During the operation portion of the contract the contractor will be paid by the government for every tonne of treated waste.