Burkina Faso - Plastic Waste Creates Jobs - Global 3000 12.05.2008

In Burkina Faso almost half of the population lives below the poverty line. More and more people are moving to the capital Ouagadougou, hoping for a better life. But large parts of the city still have no electricity or running water, and until now the city's garbage has wound up on the surrounding fields instead of at waste dumps. Now a project initiated by Andrea Micconi, in cooperation with the International Labor Organisation (ILO), is making a virtue out of necessity. A recycling plant is to help Burkina Faso stop destroying its environment while helping the poor at the same time. Twenty-thousand tonnes of plastic waste are being recovered from the fields and recycled