Garbage City, officially known as Manshiyat Naser, is a district on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, inhabited largely by the Coptic Christian community known as the Zabbaleen, meaning “garbage people.” For decades, the Zabbaleen have made their living by collecting, sorting, and recycling Cairo’s waste—processing nearly 80 percent of the city’s trash by hand, far more efficiently than most modern systems. #Egypt #cairo | The Bearded Backpacker

Garbage City, part of Manshiyat Naser in Cairo, is home to the Zabbaleen, a community that has managed much of Cairo’s waste for decades. Around 20,000 to 30,000 residents work in an informal system that once recycled up to 80 percent of the city’s trash, far higher than most modern systems. Families sort garbage by hand inside their homes, selling plastic, paper, metal, and glass by weight. Most residents are Coptic Christian and have faced long-standing stigma and poor infrastructure despite p