Conflict Incident Report

Protesters broke into a waste sorting plant in the southern city of Sidon Friday, protesting the foul smell from the site and its nearby dumps, prompting the factory workers to retaliate. The factory said it will temporarily close in response to the protests.
The protests, called by the Popular Nasserist Organization and civil society groups, escalated after participants attempted to enter the solid household waste sorting factory, following MP Osama Saad.
The plant, which was initially built to receive 300 tons of waste from Sidon, later started receiving additional waste from Beirut after an agreement with the Beirut municipality.
After the protesters entered the factory clashes broke out between the participants and workers, leaving four of the nearly 400 protesters injured. A few of the 200 workers also sustained injuries from the fight.

The Internal Security Forces arrived at the scene and attempted to prevent protesters from entering the factory to ensure security.
“[The workers] brought fire trucks and threw powder at us. We were temporarily blinded and they started beating us,” one protester who had bruises on his face, told The Daily Star.
The plant will stop receiving waste from both Sidon and Beirut in response to the break-in, an administrative source from the factory told The Daily Star.