Photos: Plastic waste turned into rugs in rebel-held Syria
At a garbage dump in northwestern Syria, 39-year-old Mohammed Behlal sorts plastic to be sold to recyclers and turned into rugs and other items in the rebel enclave.
In rebel-held Syria, recycling is a lifeline for residents looking for work or items they otherwise couldn’t afford. Behlal was shot in the leg during the fighting and is struggling to find work.
Behlal hacks through the pile with a scythe and his bare hands. He and two of his six children earn a living sifting garbage in the village of Hezreh in Idlib province, each earning $7 to $10 a week.
“It’s exhausting…but what can we do, we have to put up with this hard work,” said Behlal, who was expelled from neighboring Aleppo province during the Syrian civil war.
In a large scrap yard, workers loosely sort plastic waste into piles by color, then cut and crush it into small pieces that are washed and melted into plastic granules.
Farhan Sleiman, 29, is one of those who handle the material brought in from the landfill.
“We buy plastic from itinerant garbage trucks and children,” says Sleiman, from Homs province. He is afraid of contracting “cholera or chronic diseases” from working with the waste.
Elsewhere in the northern province of Idlib, workers in a factory that makes mats and rugs twist brightly colored plastic thread as large weaving machines click and clack.
Factory owner Khaled Rashu, 34, says carpet making is a family tradition.
“We have more than 30 employees” at the factory, he said, significant in a region where many are unemployed.
Large, geometrically patterned mats, some made with striking red or purple plastic thread, emerge from the weaving machines and are stacked in piles.
Shop owner Mohammed al-Qassem, 30, is among those selling the mats, which he says are a hit in an area where many people are displaced and live in simple tents or makeshift homes.
The mats cost between $5 and $15, while traditional Persian style rugs cost around $100.
“In summer, the demand for plastic mats increases” because they retain less heat, Qassem said from his shop in Maaret Masrin, a town in Idlib province.
But “they can also be used in winter and are cheaper,” he added.