Introduction
The increasing amount of waste has been a significant problem in big, rapidly expanding cities, especially in developing countries. However, garbage should not be treated only as an economic burden. According to Didero (2012), “many poor city dwellers regard waste as an important economic resource” (p. 27). The cases as with the Zabbaleen people in Cairo show that there is an opportunity for the mutual benefit of the garbage collectors and the cities. Many poor people at the outskirts of big metropolises may have profit from garbage and in such a way, improve the hygienic situation in the cities.
Main body
However, this cooperation is rarely smooth and perfect and may result in several problems. To begin with, not only poor people see garbage as a source of profit. Big multinational companies that usually have support from governments state their claim too. Secondly, voluntary garbage collectors do not feel responsible for the environmental situation as they pursue economic goals exclusively. This issue arises in the cases when the amount of waste significantly overcomes the economic need of the collectors. Based on this, the reformative initiative which would organize the work of garbage collectors and combine their benefit with the needs of the city is needed.
The Zabbaleen are the ancestors of Egyptian farmers who moved to the city in the late 1940s and settled down on its rapidly growing outskirts. They made their living by collecting and recycling garbage for decades. In the 1980s they connected their efforts with local non-governmental organizations. The research claims that this cooperation resulted in the recycling of almost 80% of the collected waste – the rate three times exceeding the quantity of waste collected in major European cities (Simpson, 2017). The situation got worse in the 1990s when the city developed so fast that the Zabbaleen were unable to cope with the situation. The government resolved to put them aside and to attract multinational companies. This decision lead to hazardous outcomes both for the Zabbaleen and the city as less than 20% of the waste was being recycled. Only in 2011 the government officially employed the Zabbaleen to garbage recycling. Numerous companies are providing their initiatives to solve the problem today, but, despite the positive development of the situation, much remains to be done.
The waste materials from Cairo have been the subject of conflict among global companies for years. According to Fahmi (2010), they are seen differently by the corporations and the Zabbaleen population. The first see the source of income, and for the latter, it is the only source of livelihood. In order to increase the use of the waste materials for the Zabbaleen population, it is essential to implement the project which would consider the most effective use of these materials by the Zabbaleen. The idea is to create a plastic recycling institution, such as Reform Design Studio. It would employ the Zabbaleen not only in the waste collection but also in the process of creating furniture items from recycled plastic.
The initiative aims at solving several community problems at a time. Its primary goal is establishing a better environmental situation in the city by reducing plastic pollution. According to Meyer (2019), all the initiatives concerning the Zabbaleen should focus on survival economies. That is why the project involves local communities as it creates a number of new workplaces. Establishing the plastic recycling manufacture also concerns the problem of sustainability. Moreover, this technology in the future will provide the population with cheaper goods made from recycled plastic.
The project has a positive impact on the Zabbaleen community, solving several of their problems. According to Kuppinger (2014), these people have been experiencing poverty, frustration, injustice, and humiliation, while their only aim was to survive. It is essential to solve the economic need of the Zabbaleen people first of all. Secondly, the project creates decent working conditions for people and compensation for their work. In addition to this, the project positively influences the environmental situation in Cairo.
The project is entirely self-sustaining and in several years may become even economically profitable. However, it required significant investments from sponsors at the initial stage as the involved technology was costly. As the project of creating and selling furniture made from recycled plastic has its income potential, it is a privately run business, which does not reduce the positive impact on the community. This business model is chosen because it grants independence to the start-up.
Creating sustainable manufacturing is a challenging task as it involves technological implementation. Recycling plastic into different materials is a widely-spread technology used by such companies as Nike or Adidas. However, these giants have access to all the innovations, but it is not easy for small start-ups to employ costly technology. Many of them require investments or manufacturing assistance from bigger companies. Small projects face several other barriers, including the lack of skilled workers. This problem most severely concerns those companies that strive to work in unprivileged communities. To solve this issue, they require establishing educational and training opportunities for their employees.
Conclusion
The Zabbaleen people have created an efficient waste collection and recycling system not known before. The population of Cairo had benefited from their work for decades until they became unable to collect all the garbage. By trying to put them aside from waste-collecting, the authorities made a severe mistake and have to cope with its outcomes untill today. This situation is the example of how ignoring the needs of the population can harm the whole community.
References
- Didero, Maike. 2012. “Cairo’s Informal Waste Collectors: a Multi-Scale and Conflict Sensitive Perspective on Sustainable Livelihoods.” Erdkunde 6 (1): 27–44. Web.
- Fahmi, Wael, and Keith Sutton. 2010. “Cairo’s Contested Garbage: Sustainable Solid Waste Management and the Zabaleen’s Right to the City.” Sustainability 2 (6) (2010): 1765–83. Web.
- Kuppinger, Petra, Najib B. Hourani, and Ahmed Kanna. 2014. “Crushed? Cairo’s Garbage Collectors and Neoliberal Urban Politics.” Journal of Urban Affairs 36 (2): 1765–83. Web.
- Meyer, Günter. 2019. “Waste-Recycling as a Livelihood in the Informal Sector. The Example of Refuse Collectors in Cairo.” Égypte/Monde Arabe 19: 61–76. Web.
- Simpson, Bernadette. 2017. “Waste Management Perspectives for Egypt.” EcoMENA. Web.