Monday, 4th of January 2016. In Egypt, there is a city called Zabbaleen “Garbage City”; known by this name for the foundation of its main economical activity, focusing on the collection and processing of the waste of the 10 million inhabitants of Cairo for over fifty years. Currently, there is no running water or electricity; and the animals live freely among people running through the mountains of garbage across the city.
The people live in extreme poverty, surrounded by large amounts of the waste they use to survive. Families can only process one type of waste, may it be plastic, metal or other objects; the social group which lies within the town is scattered in various urban areas of Greater Cairo. The largest population of the Zabbal community, located in the village Mokkattam, is the cause of the nickname “Garbage City”.
The Zabbaleen for years have been organizing to obtain an effective collection and recycling system called “zero waste”; they handle all the work to collect the trash, going door to door at no cost, and use cars or trucks that move pulled by donkeys to transport the waste obtained from their people.
To sort the waste they use pigs that feed on all organic waste, thus dividing the material is easier. Garbage obtained is divided as paper, glass, plastic, cloth, aluminum cans and tin for sale with brokers; and primary, which are recycled garbage to create new products .
Thanks to the kind of life the Zabbaleen have, they have managed to reuse between 80% and 85% of waste; considered as one of the most heroic communities since they have the highest rate of recycling in the world. Today, the Egyptian government did not support in any way the Zabbal people because they have Christian religious beliefs. About 40,000 zabbaleen lead this kind of life as a way of employment.
The newspaper “Egypt Independent” reported in 2004 the creation of a non-governmental organization called “The Spirit of Youth” (SOY); represented by zabbaleen workers. Since then there has been a union for all workers of cleaning, beautification and environmental protection; through which there are officially registered 38 companies, turning the work of the Zabbal community into non-informal, with more than 150,000 active workers for the recycling in “Garbage City”.
ALFA