DAKAR — Baye Dame Ndiaye skillfully sifts through piles of stinging garbage dumped in the landfill where he grew up on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital Dakar, separating plastic for recycling companies and pieces of cardboard to feed his sheep.
Hundreds of occasional waste pickers gather every day as the sun rises over the mountains of waste in Mbeubeuss, Dakar’s main landfill and one of the largest in West Africa, living off iron, aluminium and plastic waste.
Trade has continued to thrive despite the 2020 single-use plastic ban and government efforts to formalize waste collection.
“Never in my life would I have imagined that I would come to paint here. . . but I like it,” said Ndiaye, 32, who has held several jobs since dropping out of high school.
Ndiaye is part of a team of 120 other people that collects around 3 tons of plastic per day. It is cut into small pieces, washed and sold to an intermediary for 25 CFA francs (4 cents) per kilogram.
Companies buy this plastic between 50 and 75 CFA francs (8 and thirteen cents) per kilogram and then resell it to plastic manufacturers in Dakar as SIMPA.
“Recycled fabrics are more than virgin fabrics,” said SIMPA Deputy Director Khalil Hawili, noting that recycled products were the best sellers.
In Mebeuss, cows search nonchalantly among recyclers, detached from the poisonous fumes emanating from the piles of burning garbage that have earned this segment of the landfill the nickname “Yemen” in reference to photographs of the war.
Ndiaye’s mother, Binta Diouf, a dried fish vendor, said she would have liked to have seen her son finish his studies and leave the landfill next to which the circle of relatives settled after floods destroyed their home in 2001.
“Since we moved here, we have detected more respiratory illnesses,” he told Reuters, recalling his initial struggle with smoke and smells.
But in seven years of operation in Mbeubeuss, Ndiaye became the breadwinner and set aside enough money to raise sheep on the roof of his house.
Inflate their feed with cartons from the landfill, where farmers also have plenty of food for their animals.
“Being next to the landfill is a plus,” Ndiaye said. “Others only see waste. . . however, it’s more than that. “
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