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Recycling waste and creating opportunities for women

March 9^th, 2020

Zainab’s day begins before dawn. She wakes her family, makes breakfast, sends her children to school, and cares for her handicapped husband. Life used to be a continual struggle just to survive. Her family relied on government aid and making ends meet was difficult.

“I graduated in 1995 from high school and immediately applied for a Civil Service Bureau job. I thought I would get employment quickly, but after 20 years I am still jobless, poor and unhappy,” she says

The effect of poverty on her four children broke Zainab’s heart. When they would ask for money to buy candy, that simple childhood joy, she would have to say no.

“I would go to the supermarket and look at all the things I wanted, but couldn’t buy for my family, and feel so sad,” she says.

Then Zainab made a life-changing decision. She joined an ambitious solid waste management project in her town. It was a risky step, because waste sorting work is looked down on in her community, but she went ahead anyway.

Zainab is one of 60 women employed at the centre in Northern Shouneh in Jordan. Funded by the Government of Canada, it is carried out by UNDP in coordination with the Ministry of Local Administration.

Recycling waste and creating opportunities for women

Zainab is one of 60 women employed at the centre in Northern Shouneh in Jordan. Funded by the Government of Canada, it is carried out by UNDP in coordination with the Ministry of Local Administration.

Ghadeer leads the team which provides livelihoods for 60 women. She used to be a substitute teacher.

“I love my job. I wait every night for more to come so I can come back here to work,” she says. “I’ve gained high self-confidence working here and being elected the leader of our team also improved my self-esteem.”

“I’m hoping to expand the project and create more jobs for women. To expand not only the sorting station, but also the cooperative,” Ghadeer, left, says.

Tharwa, a mother of four, also welcomes the new direction her life has taken. She used to have a small side business, but since her husband left the family, she had to find more work.

“I was encouraged to participate in the project because of the sustainability aspect of the project, in the community meetings I learned that the cooperative will continue to run after UNDP leaves. It’s not a temporary activity. It will give me a stable income,” she says.

Twenty women work at the centre sorting and crushing about four tons of waste every day, while 40 go out into the town to encourage businesses and householding to recycle. Tharwa is one of them.

Tharwa, the head of her household, is able to help send her children to university with her income from the recycling centre.

“I was very shy at the beginning,” she says. “I would knock on doors and talk to men and women about the waste they could give us, and how they should leave it aside in different bags from other waste so we can collect it.

To her surprise, she would visit the same houses later and find that her neighbours had put aside cans and plastic bottles for her to collect.

“Imagine that the very people I was scared might mock my job are now asking me how they can join us,” she says.

Haifa 31, says that the sorting centre has helped clean up their streets and contributed to a culture of recycling.

The women are paid US$310 a month and they have begun pooling their funds to create a cooperative. It sells the waste to recycling factories and all the proceeds are shared amongst the members.

And far from being shunned, the women are basking in the newfound respect for their entrepreneurial acumen.

“My kids are very happy, and proud of me. When I was interviewed on TV, they shared it with their classmates. My husband is very supportive. Not only for me but my colleagues have support from their families, because it’s a decent work environment for women,” Ghadeer says.

Ibtesam, 46, is a mother of six, and a widow of 15 years. Sorting recyclable at the centre is her first time in the workforce.

Zainab has learned accounting, marketing, project management and sales skills, and feels confident that she can open her own business.

“I dream of opening my own cleaning products shop. I am going to save some cash and maybe in the next few years I will have enough to establish a sustainable project,” she says.

The centre has turned what was once a dump and a community eyesore into a vibrant place where women work, make friends and feel safe. And it’s just the beginning.