"Recycling rubbish into revenue - the scheme bringing hope to women in Jordan", 18 June 2018

Sameera Al Salam folds a discarded piece of newspaper into a long strip then loops it round her finger to form a tight circle, the first stage of making the upcycled handbags, trays and bowls the Syrian refugee hopes will help her earn a living...Al Salam hopes her involvement in a new rubbish collection and recycling scheme that aims to alleviate the poverty of both refugees and locals and bring the two communities closer will help turn things around. The scheme, managed by charity Action Against Hunger, employs 1,200 people to collect and sort waste from the streets and provides temporary work permits to refugees who take part. Nearly half the participants are female in a country where women can face cultural and family obstacles to employment... The project workers were given 50-day contracts paying 12 Jordanian Dinar ($16.90) a day, plus training and social security provisions. Some of the waste was sold to scrap dealers for extra cash. Al Salam was among a group of women who started an upcycling project, turning the waste paper and plastic they collected into objects to sell. Action Against Hunger, which has managed the waste project since 2017 with German government funding, is now setting up a second phase focusing on equipping cooperatives and workers to continue waste processing and upcycling unaided...