How people turn plastic into money

The plastic fibers utilized in the production of rugs and prayer mats at the Hijazi Straw Mat Factory in Gaza were originally sourced from discarded buckets. Due to the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007, importing virgin plastic from Saudi Arabia has become increasingly difficult, leaving the use of plastic waste as the only viable option. The scarcity of essential items and the accumulation of trash have led people across the strip to find innovative ways to sustain their businesses by utilizing materials recovered from landfills. This raises the question of how to manage waste in a conflict zone. Our team visited the Gaza Strip to observe how people make a living from global waste.

Donkey carts filled with plastic buckets arrive at the factory almost daily, and workers saw the buckets into pieces to fit into shredders. Washing machines remove any dirt and residue, and excess water is drained before the pieces are added to the dryer to spin out the remaining moisture. Despite being incredibly lightweight, this type of plastic retains its strength after recycling. The plastic is poured into bags and sent upstairs using a lift. The plastic bits are loaded into the hopper, where they are heated to their melting point. Adding dies adjusts the color, and the pliable sludge falls down to an extruder before being pushed out into long strands. Water cools the plastic until it solidifies, and the strands are cut down into granule size and end up in huge sacks. The granules are then sent back downstairs, heated up again, and poured into machines specially sized for the mat threads. This time, the machines cut the plastic threads to the perfect size for weaving. Workers bundle the filaments and walk them over to the weaving machines. The factory can produce up to 500 meters of mats every day, but that is significantly lower than previous years when the factory ran 24 hours a day with almost 30 employees. Conflict often dictates work schedules, and Israeli airstrikes have damaged the factory multiple times, most recently in May 2023. The factory continues to operate despite the challenges of operating in a conflict zone.

Gaza's electricity supply is unreliable, running only 14 hours a day on average. Power in Gaza mainly comes from two sources: an old diesel-powered plant that only meets about one-fifth of electricity demand and power lines from Israel. However, diesel is expensive, and there is little place to store large amounts. The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated parts of the world and has been an occupied territory since 1967. In 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza, and Israel, the United States, and the European Union labeled it a terrorist organization. Since then, Israel has restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of the 25-mile strip of land. The blockade cut off materials that could be used to manufacture weapons and for other military purposes, according to the Israeli government. However, the list also included a lot of basic items needed to repair infrastructure. Over time, supplies of building materials, fuel for cars and power plants, parts to fix broken machinery, and even some medical equipment have periodically run out, and the garbage heaps kept getting bigger and bigger.

Gaza produces over 2,000 metric tons of solid waste per day, and the recycling centers cannot handle all of it. The blockade often prevents waste from being shipped to other countries for processing, so a lot of garbage ends up in the strip's two official landfills, where it is regularly burned. However, because the landfills lack proper firefighting equipment, large fires can burn for days. Illegal dump sites sometimes become the only option, and trash pickers burn electronic waste to salvage copper and other metals, creating clouds of toxic smoke linked to increased cancer rates and respiratory problems for Gaza's children. Despite the waste problems, those trash piles have become a resource, and in 2019, one man began recycling paper waste, turning it into trays for transporting eggs. He spent two years perfecting the recipe, and workers first rip the trash paper and mix it with water. The proper ratio produces a moldable thick slurry, and molds press the slurry into the proper shape, squeezing out the extra water. Then they dry in the harsh Mediterranean sun. Now, the man employs seven people to make the trays, and local farmers prefer the recycled cartons.

More than 60 percent of people in Gaza are food insecure, and isolated from the rest of the world, Gaza has been called the world's largest open-air prison. However, it has about 25 miles of Mediterranean coastline, and an artist collective worked to build the C Is Ours Cafe, using planters made from old tires to line the path to the entrance. One of the doors came from a refrigerator, and the windows from an old washing machine. Inside, the artists run a community center that teaches locals how to reuse everything, and the cafe allows customers to donate waste from their homes in lieu of cash. Despite the war around them,