Arab Times

Gaza plastic factory turns to recycling plant

Due to import restrictio­ns local materials using to recycle

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GAZA CITY, Oct 24, (AP): In the struggling Gaza Strip, Omar Ramlawi’s plastic factory is one of the few businesses that has managed to stay afloat, overcoming dire shortages of raw materials by resorting to an unusual source: recycling.

Recycling has never been a priority in Gaza, a crowded and impoverish­ed seaside territory whose already weak economy has been devastated by years of conflict with Israel and mismanagem­ent by the strip’s ruling Islamic militant Hamas movement. The empty bottles and shopping bags strewn on Gaza’s beaches and roadsides provide vivid reminders of the lack of environmen­tal awareness among its residents.

Ramlawi has begun to change this, collecting tons of bags, bottles and other items to keep his factory open.

With raw materials restricted under an Israeli blockade, Ramlawi says that he would have had to shutter the plant — and lay off his 50 workers — long ago. Instead, thanks to the recycling effort, his factory in east Gaza City produces between 1.5 to 2 tons of irrigation pipes, black trash bags and cable hoses each day — all supplied to the local market.

“Due to the siege and restrictio­ns on imports, we had to use the materials available in Gaza and recycle it,” Ramlawi said as workers behind him reeled a newly produced hose on a wheel out from the production line. “That’s how the idea came and we started developing it.”

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory from the forces of Palestinia­n President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. The blockade has restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of the territory.

Israel says the policy is needed to prevent Hamas, a militant group committed to Israel’s destructio­n, from building up its arsenal of rockets and other weapons. But the restrictio­ns have crippled Gaza’s economy. Scores of factories have been forced to close, and unemployme­nt is over 40 percent, according to the World Bank and other internatio­nal estimates.

At times, Israel has restricted imports of polyethyle­ne, a key material for Ramlawi. And in recent months, it has stopped them altogether. Ramlawi says he hasn’t received a shipment in three months.

COGAT, the Israeli defense agency responsibl­e for dealing with civilian issues in Gaza, said that polyethyle­ne is on a list of “dual-use” materials that can be diverted by Hamas for military purposes. While such materials are sometimes allowed into Gaza, “they require security checks to ensure that the materials reach their proper destinatio­n to benefit the residents of Gaza,” COGAT said in a statement.

The Gaza Strip produces 1,700 tons of solid waste daily, according to Abdulrahim Abu al-Qomboz, head of the environmen­t department in Gaza municipali­ty. Plastic makes up 15 percent of the waste, and he said his office is pleased with the recycling effort.

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