by Jürgen Grothues

In the industrialized countries, at least some "waste" or "throw-away" materials are re-used in industrial recycling processes; the material is recovered to make more of the original products; that is, new bottles are made from old glass, new paper is made from old. In the developing countries, however, waste materials are re-used in a completely different way. Without going through the process of recovering the original raw materials, these materials are re-used in completely new forms and functions. In particular, old tyres and tin cans are turned into all sorts of useful objects by artisans specializing in this work. This article, based on field research in Pakistan and Morocco, illustrates some aspects of this development.

The history of this kind of recycling can be traced back to the early days of contact between cultures. With the first expeditions and colonization, industrially produced European consumer goods found their way overseas in the form of supplies. Expedition reports and diaries of colonial officials document the fact that Europeans themselves often re-used empty bottles and other receptacles which were in short supply. They converted these containers into utility objects, or used them as barter currency for trade with the native population. Such objects were never regarded as "waste" or "throw-away" articles,

as was the case in Europe. The earliest reports date back well into the last century.

Today, industrially produced consumer goods are found all over the world. The major industrial concerns have also "discovered" the developing countries as important markets. Canned beverages and foods, or modern means of transport can be found in even the most remote regions. And industrial production of consumer goods is now playing an increasingly important role in the developing countries themselves. As a result of this development there has also been a major increase in the amount of re-usable waste materials generated.

This situation, coupled with the poverty and shortages prevailing in many parts of the Third World, has led to the development of a very complex, independent sector of the economy which specializes in using this "waste".

* Dr Jürgen Gromues studied ethnology and sociology in Münster He is now a freelance ethnologist specializing in economic ethnology and cultural change.

Waste collectors

Thousands of waste collectors roam the residential areas of the towns and cities with hand or donkey carts, buying cans, bottles and other items, or they comb the rubbish dumps on the outskirts of the cities for re-usable articles.

The waste collectors in turn supply specialized artisans who convert

these raw materials into utility objects. Some of the products that result from the processing of tin cans and car tyres are particularly impressive.

Recycling artisans

The fact that these new craft trades have come into being is an impressive example of the creativeness and self-helf potential that exists in the developing countries. Without any government aid or other outside assistance, millions of people all over the world have created a livelihood for themselves in this sector of economy.

The recycling artisans have meanwhile integrated themselves perfectly into the traditional market and bazaar structures. Like the traditional craft trades, the recycling specialists have their own areas in the bazaar, segregated according to materials. Whole streets are given over to recycling businesses. In addition, many small mobile workshops have been set up on the roadside. The workshops are not only production facilities, but also sales outlets where the artisans sell direct to consumers. Their potential clientele includes not only the poorest sectors of the population, but also blue- and white-collar workers with low but nevertheless regular incomes. For them, there is no alternative to these articles, which are by far the cheapest of their kind.

The best conditions for recycling artisans are still to be found in the big cities, where there is not only a large number of potential consumers, but also a constant and adequate supply of materials to process.

Meanwhile, however, the recycling industry has expanded far beyond the urban areas. Many and diverse forms of recycling can also be found in small towns and rural areas. Wherever there is only an inadequate supply of re-usable materials, finished recycling products from the towns have found their way in. Thus a lack of recycled objects can now be considered characteristic of the last strongholds of unspoiled, traditional material culture.

Organization of work and technology

In the organization of their work, artisans, in these new craft trades have been able to make use of traditional forms. Like the old-established craftsmen they too usually work together, two or three to a workshop. Many of the businesses are family enterprises which have been in existence for two or three generations, and where the craft skills are handed down from father to son.

A key factor which encouraged the development of the new crafts was the nature of the material. Both the tinplate of tin cans and the rubber used in tyres are relatively easy to reprocess. Only a relatively small number of tools are needed to make the products. Tin and leather shears, hammers and tongs, the basic equipment of a recycling workshop, are cheap and, in addition, easy to come by in the developing countries themselves. This equipment is complemented by a large number of improved aids: a length of railway track is used as an anvil and workbench, pipes and T-irons are used for shaping curves or producing folded edges. Many artisans have developed their own solutions to technical problems.

Hence businesses can be set up with very little capital outlay, so that even members of low-income groups have managed to become established and earn a living in this sector. Recycling has thus developed into a major survival strategy for marginal groups, most of whom have no prospect of benefitting from government assistance or job-creation schemes. And so it is a model example of successful self-help in practice-without any "help towards self-help" from outside.

As regards the technology, too, the artisans have been able to draw on traditional methods. Tyre recyclers in particular can adopt methods similar to those used in leather processing, because of the nature of the material. The essential techniques in rubber processing are the same as for leather, i.e. sewing and nailing to join the material. Shoemakers have also integrated the new material into their trade, using tyre rubber to make soles.

The simple technologies of the recycling trade are applied with great skill and igenuity. Articles are produced with carefully considered, optimum utilization of the material available. What kind of product will ensure optimum use of the material depends on the condition of the can or tyre. The handyman's attitude ("I can always find a use for that"), improvisation with the materials available, and a permanent dialogue with the material are characteristic of the recycling trade.

The products

The artisans' ingenuity and creativeness also find expression in the diversity of the products. One impressive and symbolic example of this creativeness is an oil lamp whose fuel reservoir is a burnt-out light bulb. Artisans from Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ghana and Burma discovered this use for light bulbs - the symbol of human inventiveness quite independently of one another.

In Pakistan alone, there are well over 100 different recycling products for sale on the markets. They satisfy basic needs of daily life and are to be found in all areas of material culture. They include everything from structural elements for buildings to children's toys, from musical instruments to household utensils of every conceivable kind. The range of household goods includes storage receptacles, sieves, cook pots, lamps, suitcases and much more besides. Shoes, bags and water bags are made from old tyres. Theoretically it would be possible to put together a complete "recycling household" from all these products.

Where previously calabashes or animal skins were used to draw water, tin cans or water bags made from old tyres are now in use in many places. On many markets tin cans are used as measures for goods. They are accepted as an accurate unit of measurement with little scope for manipulation. In many places this has led to the introduction of new units for weights and measures - one of the numerous "side-effects" of recycling.

Effects of recycling

As with every kind of cultural change the development of the recycling trade has had a variety of effects.

The recycled products have supplanted many traditional objects and implements. Recycling artisans compete with traditional craft trades such as pottery and leather working. In the small town of Hala, for example, a traditional crafts center in southern Pakistan, the new competition has caused a drop of some 50 per cent in the number of potters. The recycled products have proved to be cheaper and to last longer than the potters" earthenware.

Other artisans with traditional occupations have integrated the new materials into their trades. Many smiths, for example, have switched to using scrap iron. As a result of this development the ability to mine and smelt iron ore is in many places now a forgotten skill.

Since the materials processed are the same all over the world, the endproducts are often also very similar. So recycling products from different places are practically indistinguishable. Only in a few, exceptional cases are there any stylistic elements which are clearly typical of a particular culture. The development of these trades is thus also leading to greater uniformity of material cultures.

This form of recycling is also clearly having an ecologyc impact. With their ingenuity and industriousness, the artisans and their suppliers, the waste collectors, are helping to incorporate valuable materials in new production processes while at the same time easing the burden of "official" waste disposal services.

Abstract

Recycling provides an impressive example of the inherent drive in the economy and the creative potential of the inhabitants of developing countries. While it developed out of conditions of poverty and want, recycling is helping to alleviate the worst economic difficulties of a large, mainly marginal sector of the population. As a craft trade, recycling is based on proven traditional methods; it involves simple technologies, is labour-intensive and its products - in contrast to many others - meet the basic needs of a large section of the population. With products that are appropriate to their markets, recycling artisans have filled an economic gap that has an almost inexhaustible potential.

Résumé

Le recyclage constitue un exemple impressionnant de la force économique et du potentiel de création des populaVons dans les pays du Tiers Monde. Issu de la misere et de la pauvreté, le recyclage permet de réduire les plus graves difficultés économiques d'un groupe marginal de la population. Le recyclage fait appel a des aptitudes artisanales éprouvées depois fort longtemps. Les techniques employees vent simplex, il faut beaucoup de main-d'oeuvre et - contrairement a bien d'autres choses - les produits fabriques vent ceux dont les gens ont besoin. Avec leurs produits, les "recycleurs" comblent un creneau avec un potentiel pratiquement inépuisable.

Extracto

Reciclaje en los paises del tercer mundo es una consecuencia de la pobreza y miseria. Un dosporciento de la población de estos paises vive del aprovechamiento de las basuras. Con frecuencia, esta actividad va unida a peligros pare la salud, que, no obstante, pueden limitarse mediante medidas higiénicas y de organización. Por lo que respecta a la situación económica de las personas ocupadas en la recogida y el aprovechamiento de las basuras, también puede ser mejorada, encargándose dichas personas por su cuenta de la comercialización y. explotación de los materiales obtenidos en el reccleje. Aquí podrían prestar su ayuda active las organizaciones no estatales.