In the labyrinthine alleys of Cairo's Garbage City, recycling specialist Peter Romany finds himself fielding calls from factories struggling to source plastic to cover supply shortfalls caused by the Iran war.
The 25-year-old is among hundreds of recyclers and manufacturers across Egypt benefiting from a war-fueled surge in demand since the United States and Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for the raw materials from which plastic is made.
At the center of the boom is the sprawling settlement of Manshiyet Nasser, east of Cairo, where generations of garbage collectors have built one of the most sophisticated informal recycling systems in the world.
“Before the war, we were the ones calling factories to try to sell our material,” Romany said. AFPstanding next to towering bundles of compressed plastic.
“But after the war broke out, factories started calling us. They asked us: How much do you have? Can you deliver today? That never used to happen.”
Built on trash
Manshiyet Nasser, with over 115,000 residents, is a predominantly Coptic Christian neighborhood located beneath Mokattam Hill and across from the historic Cairo Citadel.
According to government figures, the settlement manages more than a third of the capital's waste.
Families live and work under the same roof, often separated from mountains of waste by little more than a ladder or curtain, exposing them to foul odors, plastic fumes and other health risks.
Below, men sort plastics, cardboard, paper, metals and glass into neat piles destined for workshops and factories.
Upstairs, children pore over school books, mothers prepare lunch, and televisions flicker in the narrow living rooms, all amidst the constant background noise of grinding grinders and bale presses thumping below.
The smell of garbage hangs in the air as pickup trucks and pushcarts crawl through narrow alleys, unloading the day's collections while children weave among them chasing soccer balls.
It's a well-oiled machine, put into overdrive by a war more than a thousand miles away.
Cash in advance
Romany specializes in recycled polyethylene, one of the most used plastics in the world and a key ingredient in packaging.
According to pricing agency Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS), the Middle East is a major global supplier of polyethylene, with around 85% of its exports passing through the strait.
Egypt imports about 40% of its plastic raw materials, mainly from the Gulf countries, Europe, China and South Korea, according to the Chamber of Chemical Industries.
Packaging and plastic prices have more than doubled for some products, three industry sources said. AFPpushing manufacturers towards locally recycled alternatives.
Factories that would normally delay payments started giving cash up front “because they were very eager to secure the material,” said Rizq Yousif, who mainly recycles PET, the plastic widely used in beverage and food containers.
Yousif said AFP Demand had tripled, while prices for some recycled plastics increased by up to 60%.
A temporary boom?
The disruption has been positive for local companies throughout the entire value chain.
“We have been in this business for 16 years,” said Fayrouz El-Sayed, executive director of the Sadat City Chemical Fiber Factory, which produces polyester fibers from used plastic bottles.
But only since the last crisis have they managed to open new markets as far away as Brazil, he said.
Nesma El-Areef, senior director of marketing and sales at Uflex Egypt, which converts waste plastics into new packaging materials, said demand for the company's recycled products has increased by up to 40%.
“We saw a significant increase in orders, particularly from food and beverage manufacturers, because we offered a more available alternative to imported materials,” he said. AFP.
Despite the gains, industry figures believe the boom could fade once supply routes stabilize.
Yousif said prices and demand began to decline shortly after US President Donald Trump announced last month that negotiations with Iran were moving forward.
“Only one stall brought down the market. After the war, I'm not sure this will last,” he said.
But this week, Trump said the United States was reestablishing its blockade of Iranian ports and “seizing” the Strait of Hormuz as new fighting broke out between the two countries.
According to Romany and Yousif, orders have already recovered.
“We're used to it now,” Yousif said. “Whenever there are problems there, customers start calling us.”
