Mnjm’s mission to change perceptions about trash permeates the entire company, right down from its name. “In Arabic, Mnjm means mining,” she said. “This is because we believe that solid waste is a treasure, and is valuable.”
While Palestine’s track record on recycling has improved over the years, there remains plenty of scope for improvement. One 2019 report found that most municipal solid waste (i.e. collected from households and small businesses) is never separated into recyclable and non-recyclable materials. At one Jericho site, plastic and cardboard made up more than one-third of landfill.
Khateeb traces this problematic situation to various causes: disjointed government policy, the absence of recycling expertise, and the lack of awareness about recycling’s environmental and financial benefits.
To shift community mindsets, Mnjm has targeted an especially powerful ally: the local children of Ramallah. Mnjm holds artistic workshops based around recycling, which encourage young boys and girls to view rubbish with a newfound reverence. Recently, the children worked together to arrange waste into certain shapes, before projecting those shapes as silhouettes (see below).
