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Tunisia recyclers struggle to tackle mountains of waste
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An employee of AFREC African Recycling, sorts out piles of plastic waste at the recycling facility in the industrial zone of Mghira, near the Tunisian capital Tunis, on November 25, 2021. (AFP/Fethi Belaid)
"When I see plastic, I see money," says Tarek Masmoudi, owner of one of the few recycling companies in Tunisia, where a waste crisis is threatening widespread social unrest.
Recycling is almost non-existent in the North African country, which produces 2.6 million tonnes of waste each year.
Some 85 percent of that ends up in landfills, while much of the rest winds up in informal dumps, says Tunisian waste management expert Walim Merdaci.
But with many facilities close to overflowing and neighbouring communities up in arms, the crisis is already stoking tensions.
In November, a man died as security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters demanding the closure of a stinking landfill they say has spread deadly diseases and health problems to their town of Agareb, near second city Sfax.
That could be a worrying sign of things to come as, according to expert Wassim Chaabane, most of the country's 11 official dumping grounds are due to close by the end of 2022.
That has authorities scrambling to find new sites.
