People of Asian nationalities, who belong to the categories of informal and irregular workers, work as “scavengers” in waste bins and landfills. They consider it a primary source of the money they collect from selling the metal cans of iron, aluminum, cardboard, plastic and glass materials they find.
Officials at waste recycling companies in the country estimated their companies’ losses at approximately 100 million dirhams annually, with a minimum of 10 million dirhams for each company, warning that scavenging waste threatens the ability of companies working in this field to continue.
Sources confirmed that there are brokers who manage numbers of scavengers, distribute them to landfills and buy their finds.
Officials in municipal recycling companies held responsibility for weak control over containers, while officials in the country’s municipalities considered that merchants dealing with scavengers and purchasing materials from them is the primary reason for the spread of the scavenger phenomenon.
The per capita production of waste within the country amounts to four kilograms per day, about half of which can be used for recycling, while the total amount that the Nabash receives daily ranges between 10 and 15 dirhams.
“Emirates Today” monitored the phenomenon and tracked scavengers in various waste dumps in Dubai and Sharjah, to find out the secrets of this hidden market, and to know the impact of “scavenging” on society, economically and health-wise.
Although many people fled the place as soon as they approached them, the newspaper was able to convince some of them to provide information about their activity, which they said was their social circumstances, the main reason behind their involvement in it, despite their knowledge that it exposed them to death and disease every day.
They added that they receive an amount of money that does not exceed a few dirhams, stressing that they have become professional in this profession and depend on it because their primary work does not provide them with sufficient income, in addition to the lack of other work for them within the country. But they ignored the newspaper’s questions about their work cards and residency.
Nabashun revealed that there are specific prices for the things they sell, imposed on them by the merchants they deal with, most of whom are grocery store owners. For example, the price of one kilogram of empty mineral soft drink cans is sold for less than one dirham, but its price increases if there is an increasing demand for it.
Others confirmed the presence of intermediaries and brokers who distribute them to waste dumps to collect the “valuable items” they contain.
Nabash explained that the waste bin, which passers-by stay away from because he hates its smell, is considered a valuable treasure for him, adding that the first thing he searches for inside the bin is metals of all kinds “because they are more expensive than other materials, and therefore brings Nabash a greater financial return, while cardboard and glass come in.” In second place is the attention of Al-Nabash due to its cheap price compared to other materials.”
He added that he is not keen on following preventive methods that protect him from the dangers inherent in the waste bin, considering that contamination of the bin’s contents is part of his daily work.
But he just uses a stick to dig up the box, to protect his hand from serious cuts or injuries.
He confirmed that he had been exposed to many accidents while searching for his livelihood in garbage bins. But that did not prevent him from returning to work in this field, because it is his only source of income.
The newspaper spotted in a workers’ room large quantities of cartons, soft drink cans, and empty water cans compressed into cubes of equal sizes, in addition to glass and plastic bags. A worker fixed a painting on the wall of his room, which he said he had recently found in a garbage dump, while another placed a dusty plastic flower bouquet near his floor mattress.
I also noticed the presence of metal utensils used by scavengers to prepare their food, in addition to old wooden chairs that had undergone some quick repairs.
Nabash confirmed that it is part of the outcome of the daily digging in garbage bins, explaining that “waste differs according to residential areas, as waste bins in citizens’ residential areas are filled with many useful and valuable materials, while the containers in other residential areas are almost empty of what can be used.”
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Health risks The Director of the Preventive Medicine Department at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Qadi, warned of the danger of digging up waste bins and dumps to public health and society, considering people practicing this profession as mobile disease hotspots that could infect others who deal with them with dangerous diseases that were transmitted to them from the waste they deal with. Without any preventive measures. He explained that garbage bins are usually full of dangerous microbes and germs, resulting from the decomposition of organic materials in them, and that approaching them requires wearing clothes, masks and gloves with special health specifications, to protect their owner, but what is happening on the ground is that these workers are stripped of all these necessities and dealing with them. With the contents of the boxes directly, which exposes them to dangerous diseases, they spread them in the community by shaking hands with others or cooking food in places where they gather. He pointed out that the greatest risk to which this group is exposed is the presence of sharp, contaminated objects among the garbage, exposing them to highly dangerous viruses that infect them directly and may kill them in a short time, indicating the possibility of many of them being exposed to poisoning and death within a short period of time. He called on municipalities and agencies responsible for waste management to tightly close garbage bins and landfills, to eliminate these dangerous practices to society, and to put an end to the spread of infectious diseases transmitted by these workers. |
On the other hand, the owner of Tadweer Company, one of the largest companies specialized in sorting and recycling waste in the country, Faris Saeed, said that his company loses between 10 and 15 million dirhams annually due to waste pickers, “as they strip away boxes, containers, and landfills.” Of every material suitable for recycling, leaving only organic waste, which barely covers the costs of recycling it,” he warned, “These practices threaten the waste recycling industry in the country,” and called on municipalities to have a greater role in monitoring containers.
The general manager of one of the largest waste recycling companies in the country, and an expert specializing in this matter, Haitham Shaqwara, confirmed that recycling companies’ losses range between 80 and 100 million dirhams annually, with a minimum of 10 million dirhams for each company.
Shaqwara explained that waste pickers, managed by mysterious gang formations, strip waste bins and landfills daily of between 20 and 25% of recyclable materials, which is considered the basic foundation on which the recycling industry is based, stressing that these practices are causing his company losses. It is estimated at 15 million dirhams annually. He urged the concerned authorities to intensify oversight of waste dumps. An economic source, who preferred to remain anonymous, estimated the volume of waste trade on the black market at 50 million dirhams in Dubai alone, as it produces waste equal to the waste produced by the rest of the Emirates combined, while the volume of this trade exceeds 100 million dirhams across the entire Emirates, indicating This investment is increasing significantly.
He explained that the biggest dilemma facing recycling companies because of these scavengers is their inability to expand, as no more than 30% of the recyclable waste reaches the official licensed factories, after the scavengers get what they want from the containers and sell it on the market. Black.
The source did not rule out that these practices would expose the recycling industry in the country to a major decline, and factories may be forced to close permanently, in addition to prompting investors to refrain from establishing new recycling companies within the country.
He pointed out that scavengers sell waste to merchants and intermediaries who deal with companies specialized in exporting raw materials abroad, including licensed and unlicensed companies, calling for the implementation of laws obligating companies not to export waste abroad.
He added that this sector needs legal protection that enables operating companies to perform their role without losses.
Solutions
In turn, Habiba Al Marashi, President of the Emirates Environment Group, pointed out that the popularity and spread of the phenomenon of scavenging waste is mainly linked to the prices of recyclable materials in the market, as scavengers monitor prices and work according to their financial returns, calling for intensifying security campaigns against these workers to arrest them and deport them from the country in order to preserve the economy. .
The environmental expert and advisor to the Society for Human Studies, Dr. Daoud Kazem, confirmed that the most prominent solution to treat this phenomenon is to sort waste from the source, so that bins are allocated for recyclable materials in residential areas, which are emptied by recycling companies on a daily basis, thereby wasting the opportunity for professionals to dig in bins. And waste dumps.
Kazem considered the policy used to manage waste in the country “inappropriate,” starting with mixing waste together in one bin and transporting it to one landfill, pointing out the danger of these different materials interacting with each other, and ending with the lack of deterrent laws that regulate dealing with them. He stated that official statistics indicate that the country’s per capita daily production of waste amounts to four kilograms, while the total daily production amounts to 32 million kilograms of general waste, 50% of which is recyclable, and 50% is organic waste that has beneficial uses for the environment. .
Control campaigns
The Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation and Investigations at Dubai Police, Brigadier General Khalil Al Mansouri, stated that Dubai Police coordinates with the municipality to carry out campaigns to arrest scavengers from time to time, adding that these campaigns revealed that the majority of scavengers who were arrested belong to the category of loose workers, the unemployed, and violators of residency laws in the country. State.
As for the Director of Waste Management in Dubai Municipality, Engineer Abdul Majeed Sifai, he stated that the waste containers located in residential neighborhoods contain 7,800 tons of different types, half of which are extracted from recyclable materials, while the remainder is organic waste, which is converted into useful materials for the soil.
He stressed that the municipality addresses scavengers through newspapers speaking their languages, to make them aware of the dangers of this work, in addition to imposing a fine of 500 dirhams on anyone caught tampering with garbage bins, denying the possibility of arresting the entities that manage these workers “because they work individually.”
He held private companies working in the raw materials industry responsible for the damage caused to other companies operating in this industry, because they receive these materials from workers, as they “contribute thus to reviving the scavenging trade and its continuation.”
Fares Al Mazrouei, Director of the Inspection and Licensing Department at the Waste Management Center in Abu Dhabi, attributed the phenomenon to the boom in trade in recyclable materials locally and globally, which has encouraged large numbers of Asian workers, especially those who do not have permanent work, to collect recyclable materials from containers.
He continued that the center is working to eliminate this phenomenon by intensifying inspection and monitoring campaigns, noting that a number of inspectors have been dispatched to the Judicial Department, to obtain the authorization of the judicial police authority and to punish violators if they are caught. The Center is also awaiting new legal regulations to combat this phenomenon.
Head of the Solid Waste Department at Sharjah Municipality, Yousef Abdullah Al-Ahmad, said that the municipality constantly monitors the locations of scavengers and chases them.
He described this category of workers as gang formations in their behaviors and actions, explaining that they distribute themselves in different areas, and then gather in other areas to sell the proceeds of their excavation.
He confirmed that the municipality seized cars parked in remote places, loaded with waste collected by scavengers.