By Jakob Hebsaker and Renard Teipelke*
In our first article, we introduced the waste management system in Cairo. Now, we want to shed light on recent developments and further implications for the future.
The waste management system in Cairo knows three important groups: the Wahis (license owners and fee collectors), the Zabbaleen (waste collectors and sorters), the Mo’allimin (recycling processors and resellers; former Zabbaleen). Focusing on the two opposing groups – the Wahis and the Zabbaleen – one has to underscore that the Wahis are an influential, well-educated group in the Cairene society, while the Zabbaleen are socially marginalized. Most of the 60,000 Zabbaleen are Coptic Christians and are thus part of a religious-social minority in Egypt. However, the recycling business is profitable for all stakeholders and even the Zabbaleen are in a relatively better position than other low-income groups in Cairo. Nevertheless, because of their dependence of the Wahis and their marginalized role in the Egyptian society, the Zabbaleen have only low social and economic capital as well as little political leverage. Furthermore, they are living in currently six informal neighborhoods (slum settlements), such as Manshiyat Nasser (aka Garbage City) in the outskirts of Cairo at the base of Mokattam Hill.
