Coptic Christian trash collectors in Egypt push to secure their role as recyclers of Cairo’s garbage
12/26/2011
In Egypt, where protestors are still demanding a transition from military to civilian rule, one minority group that’s particularly concerned about their fate in the post-Mubarak Egypt, is Coptic Christians. To some extent their fate is tied up with the future policy towards garbage collection in the capital. For decades, most of Cairo’s trash was disposed of by people known as Zabaleen — literally, “Garbage People.” in Arabic. These mostly Coptic Christian garbage collectors represent an informal economy that recycle up to 80 per cent of Cairo’s non-organic waste with the help of pigs.
Two years ago that changed when the government slaughtered the Zabaleen’s pigs to stop swine flu. Now the Zabaleen, supported by an NGO, are hoping to corner the market again as the city’s trash recyclers and disposers. David Enders reports.
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