Syrians turn plastic waste into rugs to make a living
- Recycling has become a grim lifeline for needy residents looking for work or items they otherwise could not afford
- Plastic junk sorted from the landfill is taken to a factory using recycled and raw plastic materials to make mats and rugs
At a rubbish dump in northwest Syria, Mohammed Behlal rummages for plastic to be sold to recyclers and transformed into floor rugs and other items in the impoverished rebel enclave.
In rebel-held Syria, recycling is rarely an environmental impulse but rather a grim lifeline for needy residents looking for work or items they otherwise could not afford.
Braving the stench, insects and risk of disease, 39-year-old Behlal hacks through the rubbish pile with a scythe and his bare hands.
He and two of his six children earn a living sifting through the refuse in Idlib province’s village of Hezreh, earning US$7 to US$10 a week each.
“It’s tiring … but what can we do, we have to put up with this hard labour,” said Behlal, who was displaced from neighbouring Aleppo province during Syria’s civil war.
“Thank God, at least we have work with the trash,” he added.
Behlal was shot in the leg during fighting and has had trouble finding employment.