Egypt: How Cairo’s ‘Garbage City’ Became the Envy of the World

Recycling Cairo’s trash for free while providing employment to tens of thousands, the Zabbaleen have much to teach other cash-strapped cities.

In the scorching afternoon heat, a few large refuse trucks barrel down the streets of the Manshiyat Naser neighbourhood in Cairo, Egypt. They are filled to the brim with waste, the main feature of this urban scene. Waste spills out of the entrances of homes. It piles up on rooftops. It is strewn along avenues.

The nickname for this area, nestled into the…