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Morocco trash pickers help fight climate change | PHYS.org
In Morocco, informal trash collectors are being given jobs and benefits as recyclers, as part of the fight against climate change:
Pulling carts piled high with plastic bottles or rummaging through unofficial dumpsites, informal trash collectors abound on the streets of Morocco.
Dubbed “Mikhala” in the local Arabic dialect, the thousands of rubbish pickers are often looked down on as they trudge through the capital Rabat and other Moroccan cities.
But a project to hire the Mikhala to work officially is starting to change that image, and even help as Morocco looks to reach an ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent by 2020.
In their own modest way, the waste pickers could be a model for countries where, like in Morocco, consumers often do not sort through and recycle their own rubbish.
As the host of next year’s UN climate conference—following the COP21 meeting in Paris Nov 30 to Dec 11 that aims to conclude a universal climate-rescue pact—Morocco will be under scrutiny for its own efforts to reduce emissions…[FULL STORY]