Moroccan trash pickers help fight climate change, and turn a profit
Print Edition
PULLING carts piled high with plastic bottles or rummaging through unofficial dumpsites, informal trash collectors abound on the streets of Morocco.
Dubbed “Mikhala” in the local Arabic dialect, the thousands of rubbish pickers are often looked down on as they trudge through the capital Rabat and other Moroccan cities.
But a project to hire the Mikhala to work officially is starting to change that image, and even help as Morocco looks to reach an ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent by 2020.
In their own modest way, the waste pickers could be a model for countries where, like in Morocco, consumers often do not sort through and recycle their own rubbish.
As the host of next year’s UN climate conference — following the COP21 meeting in Paris from November 30 to December 11 that aims to conclude a universal climate-rescue pact — Morocco will be under scrutiny for its own efforts to reduce emissions.
And tackling household waste — which the environment ministry says causes up to 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Morocco — will be key. Unlike in many Western countries where recycling is long established, in Morocco there is little legal framework for waste sorting.
Morocco only recycles about eight percent of its municipal waste, but has targeted to increase the amount to 20 percent by 2020, according to a report presented at the European Union last year. “Informal waste processing is generally done by poor social groups with a low level of education as a daily means of survival,” said Mustapha Azaaitraoui, a researcher specialised in environmental issues.
Set up in 2011 with support from the World Bank, the Attawafoq cooperative at the Oum Azza industrial landfill south of Rabat is a first attempt at changing that.
It employs about 150 people — mainly ex-pickers — to sort trash for recycling on-site instead of on the streets.
Among them is Yassin Mazout, 31, a history graduate who heads the cooperative
after becoming a trash picker to pay for his studies.
“We are all equal, we all have the same monthly salary of 2,500 dirhams (US$260),” he said. “Before, at the old dumpsite, the strong would crush the weak.”
After working outside for years, Mazout and his colleagues now work under a roof manually sorting through half of the average 2,000 tons of solid waste that arrive each day.
“We’re much better off,” agreed Najat, who before joining Attawafoq spent 18 of her 51 years as an informal trash picker.
“We have social security and our earnings help us support our families.”
This year for the first time the cooperative made a profit that will be divided up between members and used to increase its capital.
Mazout wants trash pickers to finally receive the “respect” they deserve as “they play an important role in our lives — both environmentally and economically”.
“The workers are very well organized,”said Gerard Prenant, director of the Pizzorno Environnement group that operates and has invested 650,000 euros (US$737,000) in the landfill.
“They’re very professional in sorting and we’re delighted to have them working
at our site,” he said.
At the landfill outside the capital, Attawafoq’s workers are giving back value to waste. The cooperative provides an important environmental service at zero cost to the community, Mazout said.
Recycling not only reduces waste in landfills, but also helps to lower greenhouse
gas emissions by saving energy from producing or importing products like cardboard and plastic.
Mazout says he hopes the project will inspire others around a country that still counts 220 unauthorized dumpsites.Morocco aims to close all these informal dumping grounds by 2020, environment ministry official Lubna al-Abed said, and has already funded 16 waste sorting centers like Attawafoq in partnership with municipalities.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
