16 Facts About Zabbaleen

1.

Zabbaleen is a word which literally means "garbage people" in Egyptian Arabic.

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2.

Several generations, the Zabbaleen supported themselves by collecting trash door-to-door from the residents of Cairo for nearly no charge.

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3.

The living situation for the Zabbaleen is poor, especially since they live amongst the trash that they sort in their village and with the pigs to which they feed their organic waste.

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4.

The Zabbaleen faced another challenge when the Egyptian Agricultural Ministry ordered the culling of all pigs in April 2009, in response to national fears over the possible spread of H1N1 influenza.

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5.

Thereafter, the Zabbaleen settled mainly in an abandoned quarry at the foot of the Mokattam hills, east of Cairo, which is under the jurisdiction of the Cairo Governorate.

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6.

The Zabbaleen are known as Zarraba, which means pig pen operators, because they raise pigs that eat the organic components of the waste that they collect.

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7.

Zabbaleen can be distinguished from the Wahiya in at least two significant ways.

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8.

Second, the Zabbaleen are the group that actually collects the garbage on donkey-pulled carts, separate out recyclables, breed pigs, an important component of their recycling system, and engage in a highly efficient process of recycling, whereas the Wahiya do not.

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9.

The Zabbaleen sell the sorted secondary materials such as paper, tin, glass, plastic materials, rags, and aluminum cans to intermediaries.

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10.

Vehicular access to the Zabbaleen Mokattam is possible only through three entrances, two of which are accessible only by crossing through the crowded, narrow, and steep streets of Manshiet Nasser.

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11.

Zabbaleen community is characterized by both low health and high rates of disease, especially those related to their garbage collecting activities.

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12.

Many sources state that the Zabbaleen have created one of the most efficient recycling systems in the world, which recycles up to 80 percent of all the waste that they collect.

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13.

The Zabbaleen sell these sorted materials to factories that then reuse these products, such as paper, in the creation of new material.

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14.

Therefore, residents preferred to continue to have their trash picked up from their doors by the Zabbaleen, who were able to come directly to their doors even if their homes were located in narrow alleys.

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15.

The Zabbaleen are convinced that the government wants to use the swine flu scare not to help improve their lives but to get pigs out of Egypt.

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16.

Every six months, the Zabbaleen would take their pigs to traders, earning around 450LE per pig.

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