Lebanon cannot adopt the wasteful American lifestyle without suffering the consequences. The country is too small and crowded to set much space aside for garbage dumps. Many areas are populated and cannot accommodate garbage. Most of the rest is too beautiful and ecologically sensitive to destroy for the sake of garbage. Even in America, with its huge spaces, it is becoming more difficult to build new landfills due to opposition from nearby residents.
Many homes have a recycling barrel in addition to the usual garbage barrel.
Lebanon can do better than that. Recycling plants can be built to employ those same people now scavenging in the streets. In addition, excessive waste can be avoided in the first place. Unfortunately, as part of rebuilding the country's infrastructure, Lebanon has chosen to burn its garbage rather than recycle or compost it. It is worth noting that many decades ago, Lebanon, with help from the French, built a composting plant near Beirut, one of the first in the world.