(4 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Harare, Zimbabwe – 8 June 2025
1. Mid of scrap metal collectors foraging for scrap at a dumpsite
2. SOUNDBITE (Shona) Ezekiel Mabhiza, scrap metal collector:
++SOUNDBITE PARTLY COVERED WITH SHOTS 3, 4, 5 & 6++
"I left my job as a security guard during the hyperinflation era because it was no longer worth my while to be in formal employment. I would receive $30 instead of $120. I then decided to collect scrap metal, which is a cash-and-carry business, and get paid upon delivery.”
3. Mid of scrap metal collector foraging for scrap
4. Close of scrap metal collector
5. Close- up of hands foraging for scrap
6. Various of scrap metal collectors foraging for scrap
7. Mid of metal collectors delivering scrap
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Joyce Machiri, Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association:
++SOUNDBITE PARTLY COVERED WITH SHOTS 9 & 10++
"You find that these communities are actually some of the unsung heroes that we could actually be talking about, because when you look at scrap, no one could say ‘Wow, this is a good job’ but look at it this way, these are some of the green jobs we are talking about.”
9. Mid of collectors offloading scrap onto weighing scale
10. Wide of workers loading a truck with scrap metal
11. Wide of scrapyard
STORYLINE:
Thousands in Harare, Zimbabwe rummage through dumpsites to collect scrap metal, and it’s been lauded as a sustainable practice.
Ezekiel Mabhiza, a scrap metal collector, scoured sites around Harare, using a stick or his bare hands to sift through piles of filth, from discarded diapers to broken appliances.
By midday, his pushcart was full.
Springs from old mattresses, car parts, tin cans — it all added up to 66 kilograms (145 pounds) of salvaged metal.
The haul earned him $8.
It’s enough to feed his five children for the day, maybe even cover a utility bill in a country where the majority of people survive through informal work.
“I left my job as a security guard during the hyperinflation era because it was no longer worth my while to be in formal employment,” the 36-year-old said.
Across Harare, thousands like Mabhiza live off scrap metal.
Quietly, they are helping to sustain a cleaner environment and combat climate change.
Making steel relies heavily on burning highly polluting coal, and the industry accounts for nearly 8% of the carbon dioxide emissions that come from the energy sector and contribute to Earth’s warming, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
It takes less energy to turn scrap metal into new steel, so the pickers are helping reduce carbon emissions with their work in addition to cleaning up metals that would otherwise pollute the city.
Harare generates about 1,000 tons of waste every day, most of which goes uncollected, according to the city council.
People and companies frustrated with erratic collection dump trash on roadsides and open spaces.
They sometimes burn it.
Once-pristine neighborhoods have become polluted eyesores.
Globally, scrap metal is vital to the steel industry, accounting for roughly a third of metallic raw materials used in steel production, according to the OCED.
With growing concerns over the environmental impact of mining and rising interest in circular economies, demand for recycled materials is increasing.
Informal pickers are the “unsung heroes,” said Joyce Machiri, head of the mining and extractives program at the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association.
AP production by Nqobile Ntshangase
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ac3a0a5c6d904458a5304c574a48f08a
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in July 9, 2025, 3:05 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
