by kevin, on January 27th, 2010
Image by Sergenious
The population of metropolitan Cairo is approximately eighteen million. It’s a city the size of New York City, without a city-wide trash collection system. Let that sink in for a minute. It’s a city with a population similar to New York City but without vital infrastructure and no government trash management system. But that doesn’t mean no system exists. Quite the contrary. Much of the waste removal is done by a group known as the Zaballeen (Arabic for garbage people) who live in garbage villages on the outskirts of the city. One of the largest is Mokattam (also known as Garbage City) where an estimated seventy to eighty thousand people live.
The Zaballeen collect garbage from doorsteps throughout the city and bring it back to their village for sorting and processing. Anything organic is fed to animals – goats, pigs, chickens, and some cattle. Pigs were once one of their best natural waste processors and food source, but the city killed all the pigs last year in a panic fearing an outbreak of swine flu. Inorganic material is sorted, processed, and recovered. They estimate that as much as eighty percent of all the garbage they collect gets recycled. But what’s amazing is how they are able to achieve this level of recovery while employing incredibly primitive tools. They are not using high tech industrialized machines, but hand collection, hand sorting, hand processing, and hand packaging. It’s astonishing what they are able to accomplish given their limitations. Over generations families have carved out specialty niches. Some focus exclusively on glass, or aluminum, or plastic. The community understands the value of the knowledge they have accumulated through years of experience and have built a recycling school within the village to educate and train their children.
The residents of Mokattam have been providing this vital service at very little cost to the general population. Income is generated by selling the recovered raw materials to buyers around the world. Although this system keeps them very poor, it has become a way of life and a great source of pride. But all of that is changing. Over the past three years, the city has begun contracting with foreign waste management companies in an attempt to deal with a rapidly expanding population. On one hand it’s a move by city government toward modernization and an effort to improve the city’s perception among first world cultures, but it potentially means an end to the livelihood of many thousands who depended on the trash. And possibly an end to a wealth of material knowledge. Also distressing is that the foreign companies are only required to recycle twenty percent. In a single move the city of Cairo has disadvantaged thousands of its citizens while reducing their rate of recycling.
The film Garbage Dreams follows three teenage Zaballeen boys and a community activist as they come of age in a time of transition and difficulty – the sixteen year old Osama who seems disinterested in maintaining a steady job, the seventeen year old Adham who has become the man of the family because his father is in jail for building his son an apartment on the roof without a permit, and the eighteen year old Nabil who is hardworking and dedicated – and Laila the community social worker trying to keep everyone safe and moving forward. As the foreign companies take over more and more of the city trash hauling, the plight of the cast and their families becomes more dire. Some are forced to work for the foreign companies, and others turn to illegal scavenging, but all are on the edge of despair. At one point two of the boys receive a sponsored trip to Wales to see how more advanced societies manage their waste. But what they find is greater technology with less precision. They are shocked by what is still thrown away even after recovery sorting is done. And it’s a funny moment when they realize that citizens are actually separating their waste before putting it out for collection. Funnier still is how their host turns up her nose at rummaging through a dumpster. If she only knew the conditions these boys live in every day.
Unfortunately, this story does not have a happy ending. The situation for the residents of Garbage City has only gotten worse since the film was made, while less material is being recycled. As the citizens of Cairo attempt to achieve a western standard of living, and get control of their waste, they are bound to produce more and do less with it. We can all learn something from these three young boys who continue to dream about better days even when they are faced with long odds and seemingly limited options. Please do what you can to find and watch this film. It’s worth your time. If you’ve seen it, please let us know what you thought.
This is the first I have heard about both the movie and the Garbage City processing measures that have been going on in Cairo for years.
It is a fascinating story and I would like to learn more about both…..hopefuly I can find more on-line?
As sustainability consultants to the corporate travel industry and its suppliers, we have been talking with a company in Cairo about helping the establish a basic environmental program for their company. It is as we start looking into what is currently happening in Egypt, and what might be possible to do, that we realize the enormity of the challenge and the huge difference between their procedures and those of the US and Europe.
Thanks for bringing this to light, and I would be interested in hearing more.
Hi Margo,
Thanks for your comment. It’s funny, we found out about the movie almost by accident. A friend posted a message on twitter about it, then I found out it was being screened the very next day. Had I procrastinated like I often do, I would never have seen it. Then in doing research for my post I found all kinds of info about garbage based communities all over the world. In Mexico City, it’s estimated that 20,000 live in the landfills that surround the city. The life expectancy for those pickers (as they are called) is only 39 years. Isn’t that insane. Good luck with your project.
This movie sounds very interesting and I can’t wait to see it. My husband and I were just in Cairo in Oct. and I was shocked how much trash they have and it is everywhere even on their roofs.
Hi Trish,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve not been to Cairo, but the film shows the start difference in conditions between the communities generating garbage and those processing that garbage. It’s a great film covering an important issue. What’s nice is how they’ve told the story through the eyes of three young boys living this life. Check it out when you can.
[...] Garbage Dreams [...]