Latest news with #plasticrecycling
Malay Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
Plastic picking spreads as lifeline for poor and migrants to survive in Tunisia
TUNIS July 28 — A towel draped over his head, Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia's 'barbechas', informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country's economic – and migratory – woes. The 40-something-year-old said he starts the day off at dawn, hunching over bins and hunting for plastic before the rubbish trucks and other plastic collectors come. 'It's the most accessible work in Tunisia when there are no job offers,' Jabbari said, weighing a day's haul in Bhar Lazreg, a working-class neighbourhood north of the capital, Tunis. The work is often gruelling, with a kilogramme of plastic bottles worth only 0.5 to 0.7 Tunisian dinar – less than US$0.25. In Tunis, it's common to see women weighed down by bags of plastic bottles along the roadside, or men weaving through traffic with towering loads strapped to their motorcycles. 'Everyone does it,' said Jabbari. 'Supplementary job' Hamza Chaouch, head of the National Chamber of Recyclable Waste Collectors, estimated that there were roughly 25,000 plastic collectors across Tunisia, with 40 percent of them in the capital. Yet, with the job an informal one, there is no official count of how many plastic collectors operate in Tunisia. One thing is certain: their number has increased in recent years, said Chaouch, who also runs a plastic collection centre south of Tunis. 'It's because of the cost of living,' he explained. 'At first, it was people with no income, but for the past two years, workers, retirees and cleaning women have also turned to this work as a supplementary job.' Around 16 percent of Tunisians lived under the poverty line as of 2021, the latest available official figures. Unemployment currently hovers around 16 percent, with inflation at 5.4 percent. The ranks of these recyclers have also grown with the arrival of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa – often hoping to reach Europe but caught in limbo with both the EU and Tunis cracking down on Mediterranean crossings. Tunisia is a key transit country for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year, with the Italian island of Lampedusa only 150 kilometres (90 miles) away. Abdelkoudouss, a 24-year-old from Guinea, said he began collecting plastic to make ends meet but also to save up enough money to return home after failing two crossing attempts to Europe. For the past two months, he has worked at a car wash, he said, but the low pay forced him to start recycling on the side. 'Life here is not easy,' said Abdelkoudouss, adding he came to the capital after receiving 'a lot of threats' amid tension between migrants and locals in Sfax, a coastal city in central Tunisia. 'Just trying to survive' Thousands of migrants had set up camp on the outskirts of Sfax, before authorities began dismantling the makeshift neighbourhoods this year. Tensions flared in early 2023 when President Kais Saied said 'hordes of sub-Saharan migrants' were threatening the country's demographic composition. Saied's statement was widely circulated online and unleashed a wave of hostility that many migrants feel still lingers. 'There's a strong rivalry in this work,' said Jabbari, glancing at a group of sub-Saharan African migrants nearby. 'These people have made life even more difficult for us. I can't collect enough plastic because of them.' Chaouch, the collection centre manager, was even more blunt: 'We don't accept sub-Saharans at our centre. Priority goes to Tunisians.' In contrast, 79-year-old Abdallah Omri, who heads another centre in Bhar Lazreg, said he 'welcomes everyone'. 'The people who do this work are just trying to survive, whether they're Tunisian, sub-Saharan or otherwise,' he said. 'We're cleaning up the country and feeding families,' he added proudly. — AFP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen
A towel draped over his head, Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia's "barbechas", informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country's economic -- and migratory -- woes. The 40-something-year-old said he starts the day off at dawn, hunching over bins and hunting for plastic before the rubbish trucks and other plastic collectors come. "It's the most accessible work in Tunisia when there are no job offers," Jabbari said, weighing a day's haul in Bhar Lazreg, a working-class neighbourhood north of the capital, Tunis. The work is often gruelling, with a kilogramme of plastic bottles worth only 0.5 to 0.7 Tunisian dinar -- less than $0.25. In Tunis, it's common to see women weighed down by bags of plastic bottles along the roadside, or men weaving through traffic with towering loads strapped to their motorcycles. "Everyone does it," said Jabbari. - 'Supplementary job' - Hamza Chaouch, head of the National Chamber of Recyclable Waste Collectors, estimated that there were roughly 25,000 plastic collectors across Tunisia, with 40 percent of them in the capital. Yet, with the job an informal one, there is no official count of how many plastic collectors operate in Tunisia. One thing is certain: their number has increased in recent years, said Chaouch, who also runs a plastic collection centre south of Tunis. "It's because of the cost of living," he explained. "At first, it was people with no income, but for the past two years, workers, retirees and cleaning women have also turned to this work as a supplementary job." Around 16 percent of Tunisians lived under the poverty line as of 2021, the latest available official figures. Unemployment currently hovers around 16 percent, with inflation at 5.4 percent. The ranks of these recyclers have also grown with the arrival of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa -- often hoping to reach Europe but caught in limbo with both the EU and Tunis cracking down on Mediterranean crossings. Tunisia is a key transit country for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year, with the Italian island of Lampedusa only 150 kilometres (90 miles) away. Abdelkoudouss, a 24-year-old from Guinea, said he began collecting plastic to make ends meet but also to save up enough money to return home after failing two crossing attempts to Europe. For the past two months, he has worked at a car wash, he said, but the low pay forced him to start recycling on the side. "Life here is not easy," said Abdelkoudouss, adding he came to the capital after receiving "a lot of threats" amid tension between migrants and locals in Sfax, a coastal city in central Tunisia. - 'Just trying to survive' - Thousands of migrants had set up camp on the outskirts of Sfax, before authorities began dismantling the makeshift neighbourhoods this year. Tensions flared in early 2023 when President Kais Saied said "hordes of sub-Saharan migrants" were threatening the country's demographic composition. Saied's statement was widely circulated online and unleashed a wave of hostility that many migrants feel still lingers. "There's a strong rivalry in this work," said Jabbari, glancing at a group of sub-Saharan African migrants nearby. "These people have made life even more difficult for us. I can't collect enough plastic because of them." Chaouch, the collection centre manager, was even more blunt: "We don't accept sub-Saharans at our centre. Priority goes to Tunisians." In contrast, 79-year-old Abdallah Omri, who heads another centre in Bhar Lazreg, said he "welcomes everyone". "The people who do this work are just trying to survive, whether they're Tunisian, sub-Saharan or otherwise," he said. "We're cleaning up the country and feeding families," he added proudly. kl/iba/bou/dcp/tc
Arab News
2 days ago
- Business
- Arab News
Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen
TUNIS: A towel draped over his head, Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia's 'barbechas,' informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country's economic — and migratory — 40-something-year-old said he starts the day off at dawn, hunching over bins and hunting for plastic before the rubbish trucks and other plastic collectors come.'It's the most accessible work in Tunisia when there are no job offers,' Jabbari said, weighing a day's haul in Bhar Lazreg, a working-class neighborhood north of the capital, work is often gruelling, with a kilogramme of plastic bottles worth only 0.5 to 0.7 Tunisian dinar — less than $ Tunis, it's common to see women weighed down by bags of plastic bottles along the roadside, or men weaving through traffic with towering loads strapped to their motorcycles.'Everyone does it,' said Chaouch, head of the National Chamber of Recyclable Waste Collectors, estimated that there were roughly 25,000 plastic collectors across Tunisia, with 40 percent of them in the with the job an informal one, there is no official count of how many plastic collectors operate in thing is certain: their number has increased in recent years, said Chaouch, who also runs a plastic collection center south of Tunis.'It's because of the cost of living,' he explained.'At first, it was people with no income, but for the past two years, workers, retirees and cleaning women have also turned to this work as a supplementary job.'Around 16 percent of Tunisians lived under the poverty line as of 2021, the latest available official currently hovers around 16 percent, with inflation at 5.4 ranks of these recyclers have also grown with the arrival of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa — often hoping to reach Europe but caught in limbo with both the EU and Tunis cracking down on Mediterranean is a key transit country for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year, with the Italian island of Lampedusa only 150 kilometers (90 miles) a 24-year-old from Guinea, said he began collecting plastic to make ends meet but also to save up enough money to return home after failing two crossing attempts to the past two months, he has worked at a car wash, he said, but the low pay forced him to start recycling on the side.'Life here is not easy,' said Abdelkoudouss, adding he came to the capital after receiving 'a lot of threats' amid tension between migrants and locals in Sfax, a coastal city in central of migrants had set up camp on the outskirts of Sfax, before authorities began dismantling the makeshift neighborhoods this flared in early 2023 when President Kais Saied said 'hordes of sub-Saharan migrants' were threatening the country's demographic statement was widely circulated online and unleashed a wave of hostility that many migrants feel still lingers.'There's a strong rivalry in this work,' said Jabbari, glancing at a group of sub-Saharan African migrants nearby.'These people have made life even more difficult for us. I can't collect enough plastic because of them.'Chaouch, the collection center manager, was even more blunt: 'We don't accept sub-Saharans at our center. Priority goes to Tunisians.'In contrast, 79-year-old Abdallah Omri, who heads another center in Bhar Lazreg, said he 'welcomes everyone.''The people who do this work are just trying to survive, whether they're Tunisian, sub-Saharan or otherwise,' he said.'We're cleaning up the country and feeding families,' he added proudly.
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
PlasCred Awarded $5 Million Grant from Emissions Reduction Alberta to Advance Neos Facility
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - July 23, 2025) - PlasCred Circular Innovations Inc. (CSE: PLAS) (FSE: XV2) (the " Company" or " PlasCred"), an Alberta-based clean technology company focused on advanced plastic recycling, is pleased to announce it has been awarded $5 million in non-dilutive funding from the Alberta government through Emissions Reduction Alberta (" ERA") to support the development of its first commercial-scale facility, Neos. PlasCred has already demonstrated proof-of-concept success with patent-pending Primus, its pilot-scale unit, which has been operational since May 2023. Primus has served as a foundational testing platform, validating the conversion of waste plastics into high-value Renewable Green Condensate™, a low sulphur, low carbon circular naphtha used as feedstock for the production of virgin plastic (" Condensate"). " By investing in advanced materials and circular economy solutions, we're helping Alberta's industries stay competitive, create jobs, and reduce emissions. This funding supports technologies that make better use of our resources while cutting costs. It's a win for both the economy and the environment." said Justin Riemer, CEO, Emissions Reduction Alberta With the Alberta government's support through ERA, PlasCred is advancing from pilot validation to commercial deployment, building on the technical and operational insights gained from its Primus facility to begin construction of the Neos facility and ensure a smooth transition to full-scale operations. " The Alberta government and ERA's support marks a critical milestone for PlasCred as we transition to commercial deployment," said Troy Lupul, President & CEO of PlasCred. "With this funding, we can move forward on construction, attract additional project capital, and demonstrate the role Alberta-based innovation can play in scaling circular solutions for hard-to-recycle plastics." Strategic Scalability in Alberta's Industrial Heartland PlasCred's entire scalability strategy is anchored at CN Rail's Scotford Yard in Fort Saskatchewan, inside Alberta's Industrial Heartland Canada's pre-eminent hydrocarbon-processing corridor. The permitted yard offers enclosed industrial buildings, a 200-car siding, existing utilities, and direct Class I rail connectivity. This combination delivers reliable inbound feedstock logistics and seamless outbound product shipment while giving PlasCred access to a highly skilled process-operations workforce and a business-friendly regulatory environment. Neos and the follow-on Maximus complex will be co-located at Scotford, capturing shared infrastructure and operating synergies. The Neos facility will initially process 100 tonnes (metric) of post-consumer plastic waste per day converting it into approximately 500 barrels per day of condensate. Once operational, the Neos facility is expected to divert 36,500 tonnes of plastic waste annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 51,000 tonnes of CO₂e per year. The design incorporates PlasCred's proprietary dual catalytic pyrolysis technology. This approach minimizes energy consumption, improves safety, and enables the efficient conversion of mixed and contaminated plastics, including PVC and PET. Unlike incineration or waste-to-energy approaches, PlasCred's process produces a circular petrochemical feedstock that can be reused in the production of new, food-grade plastics. The system has been validated through over two years of continuous operation at the Primus pilot facility in Calgary. The Neos facility is forecasted to generate approximately $19 million in annual revenue and $6.9 million in EBITDA, based on management assumptions regarding feedstock cost, uptime, and offtake pricing. Neos has an estimated capital cost of $25 million, with construction targeted to begin later this year, subject to final project financing and permitting. Based on internal forecasts and current engineering assumptions, the project is expected to deliver an internal rate of return (IRR) of approximately 22.8% and a payback period of 4.3 years. These forward-looking estimates are based on internal models and subject to risks including construction timing, input costs, operations, and market conditions. The projected economics remain strong even without accounting for potential upside from plastic credit monetization or byproduct sales. PlasCred has executed a definitive five-year offtake agreement with a global commodities company (" GCC") for 100 percent of Neos production at a fixed price of $120.00 CAD per barrel, inclusive of freight terms. The agreement also includes a right of first refusal (" ROFR") on future volumes from PlasCred's next phase facility, Maximus. This offtake structure ensures predictable revenue and underpins long term capital planning. Neos will integrate Palantir Foundry, an industrial data platform from Palantir Technologies to capture real-time data on feedstock, facility performance and product quality; generate auditable life-cycle assessments (LCA) that verify every tonne of waste plastic is converted into new plastic and support Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compliance; track plastic-credit issuance, greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, and logistics for both inbound feedstock and outbound product; and fuse all inputs into a digital twin that delivers 360-degree operational visibility and AI-driven optimisation across PlasCred's entire business. The proposed Maximus facility is engineered to launch at 400 metric tonnes per day, approximately 2,000 barrels per day, and scale up to 2,000 tonnes per day, or 10,000 barrels per day condensate, through modular expansion. This co-location approach leverages existing enclosed infrastructure, CN integrated rail logistics, and shared site services, offering significant cost and execution advantages while anchoring Alberta as a hub for scalable, low carbon plastic circularity. PlasCred is well positioned for sustainable, long-term growth through a combination of strategic site selection, integrated logistics, and secured revenue from industry partnerships. Its co-located infrastructure at CN's Scotford Yard enables scalable deployment while minimizing execution risk. With support from the Alberta government through ERA, PlasCred is accelerating to commercial operations at Neos. This milestone highlights the strength of Alberta-developed technology and reinforces the province's leadership in advancing circular economy infrastructure. Neos represents a significant step forward in scaling clean, plastics-to-plastics innovation rooted in Alberta's industrial and innovation ecosystem. About PlasCred Circular Innovations Inc. PlasCred is at the forefront of rebalancing the future of plastics. The company is transforming plastic waste by granting it a valuable second life. With a vision of advancing towards a climate-positive future, PlasCred aspires to be among the largest advanced plastic waste recyclers in North America and globally. Their groundbreaking patent-pending technology is set to revolutionize the approach to plastic waste management and advanced recycling. PlasCred also has strategic partnerships with CN Rail, Palantir Technologies Inc., the Government of Alberta, Fibreco Export Inc., and a Global Commodities Company. These collaborations provide PlasCred with world-class logistics, advanced operational intelligence, and stable long-term revenue, supporting its leadership in the global circular plastics economy. For further information on PlasCred, visit our website at ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Troy Lupul - President & CEO Forward-looking Statements Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to: the timing and cost of constructing the Neos facility; projected operating performance, revenues, EBITDA, internal rate of return and payback period; expected greenhouse-gas reductions; the availability of financing, feedstock and regulatory approvals; and the Company's broader commercialization and expansion plans. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied, including, without limitation: construction and commissioning risks, cost overruns, supply-chain disruptions, operational performance at scale, feedstock pricing and availability, changes in commodity prices, regulatory or permitting delays, counter-party risk under offtake or financing agreements, and general economic conditions. A discussion of these and other factors that may affect future results is contained in the Company's continuous disclosure filings available under its profile on SEDAR+ at Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and readers should not place undue reliance on them. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect new events or circumstances.
CBS News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Maryland residents call on MDE to withdraw permit for proposed plastic recycling plant
Residents in Howard County are set to rally in support of a recent Howard County Hearing Examiner's decision to overturn the project's zoning approval. The update comes as residents fight to stop W.R. Grace and Co. from building a pilot plastic recycling plant for research in Columbia. A group called Stop the Grace Project has led much of the opposition against the project. Residents have shared concerns that the plant could bring pollution and increase health risks. Some worry about toxic leaks, fires, and long-term damage to air and water quality. In June, the Maryland Department of the Environment approved a permit to construct the facility. But neighbors appealed that decision and won, overturning the Department of Planning and Zoning's (DPZ) determination that the facility does not violate zoning conditions. The county hearing examiner found that DPZ's investigation into the proposed plant was insufficient, as it relied on W.R. Grace's self-classification of permitted zoning uses. Due to the appeal, the matter was sent back to DPZ for further review, and use of the building where the plant would be is paused until the review is complete. Howard County Council Member Deb Jung commended the decision. "The Hearing Examiner issued a scathing decision and order (D&O) on the W.R. Grace zoning complaint appeal," Jung said. "The D&O stated that the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) failed to investigate, document, and apply the law. This is such a big win for the community after so many disappointments." Work for the Stop Grace Coalition is not complete. The group wants the MDE to fully rescind the air permit that is currently under review. "The Stop Grace Coalition is calling on MDE to withdraw the air permit that lacks zoning approval and ignores residents' concerns," the group said in a statement. They are also asking for a full "local environmental and community impact review" before any more permits are granted. Residents of Columbia's Cedar Creek community and the Stop Grace Coalition are preparing for another Howard County Board of Appeals hearing. According to W.R. Grace, the facility will not burn plastic – but focus on developing safer and more effective recycling methods. On its website, the company says it has developed "a new plastic recycling solution that has the potential to reduce emissions, save energy, and lower costs compared to other options."
