A research project that focuses on the treatment of medical waste resulting from Covid-19 (« Traitement des Déchets MEdicaux dus à la COVID-19 – DMECO »), and initiated by Dr. Joseph Al Asmar, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering at Antonine University who has been working in partnership with the University of Troyes, was selected following the "Action-Lebanon" call for proposals launched by the National Research Agency (ANR), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the National Council for Scientific Research in Lebanon (CNRS-L), under the impetus of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESRI).

This call seeks to support urgent, rapid and structuring research projects, of a maximum duration of 18 months, and whose scientific relevance is linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent multidimensional crises that occurred at a very critical period of Lebanon’s history.

DMECO was selected among 73 projects that were submitted by French and Lebanese academic partners. It aims at evaluating the socio-technical, economic and environmental feasibility of the treatment of medical waste (masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), etc.) that result from the Covid-19 pandemic and strives to find adequate solutions. The project objective is to demonstrate the relevance of a systematic circular economy strategy in order to respond to socio-economic situations in an uncertain context.

DMECO will involve researchers from the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Business Administration at UA who will pursue this task in collaboration with researchers at the University of Troyes.