WASTE MANAGEMENT
Here’s an example from Egypt, where supporting an entrepreneur pays off. Ibrahim Bakr, a young person from Alexandria, started his business from scratch to build a recycling company that is today employing collectors, known as the Zabaleen, most of them women from poor communities. “I learned business in the street,” he says.
“After four years of unemployment, I decided to join the waste collectors. I had to support myself and my family. At the beginning, I was making E£50 – £100 (Egyptian pounds; GB£2.35 – £4.70). It was not enough, but I knew that there was a lot of potential in what I was doing.” Starting was not easy for Bakr. After joining
trolley pullers – street waste collectors – he quickly realised that more opportunities abounded. Bakr soon saw the potential in waste and decided to start his business by building a small collection company to recycle plastic. to public policymakers:
Critical success factors • Introducing mandatory regional recycling and composting legislation
• Formalising the informal sector through the use of incentives
• Regional programmes should be inclusive, providing a high level of recycling and composting services to all communities, including small and rural communities
• system that includes the collection of materials through to the manufacture of new products
• Sufficient funding must be committed to the collection and sorting of materials, infrastructure development, and incentives to develop markets
• Get more industry involved in the recycling loop by encouraging extended producer responsibility
• Research and validate data – the next phase would be measuring impact by analysing big data from the formal sector
• Integrate a community engagement strategy with phased implementation of recoverables to allow for greater adoption and adaptation
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• Extensive education and communications programme to encourage comprehensive adoption. For example, why do African
And this would not be the end of it – we need to keep asking important questions:
Strategic questions • What are the challenges facing most local governments in delivering successful recycling and composting programmes?
• Which is needed first: a nationwide waste diversion strategy, a regional strategy, education, markets for recycled materials, or something else?
• Should incentives and/or penalties have a role in the design of recycling and composting programmes? If so, what would the role be and how would it contribute to the programme’s success?
• How can demand be increased for recyled materials? Why is rPET much
and the other Zabaleen settlements, are poor. The streets are so stacked with heaps of assorted refuse that some of them are difficult to locate. The air is heavily polluted by the smoke generated from fires that either are lit deliberately to dispose of unwanted waste, or result from the spontaneous combustion of organic residues. Average household monthly income is estimated at E£400 (approximately GB£19) in the lowest 10th percentile of national urban income levels, with an average large household size of eight people. However, the living conditions of the Zabaleen settlement have improved since some of the settlement received significant funding from the various organisations and companies in its upgrading programme, known as the Zabaleen Roud El farag or 15th of May. Since the ousting of President Mubarak and amid Egypt’s ongoing political upheaval, organisations supporting the Zabaleen have been trying to push through changes. The interim government put in place before the election of new President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi signalled a turnaround. We now have hope that waste management in Egypt will see the light and turn into a green circular economy with all players integrated into the process.
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