In some ways, Ourimi’s career path has mirrored developments in Tunisia’s national approach to recycling. In the late 1990s, Tunisia led African countries in adopting the revolutionary ECOLEF, a public-private partnership for collecting, sorting, and re-selling plastic waste to recyclers.
The government-backed initiative sparked huge interest in responsible waste management, with 226 new recycling companies becoming established. Yet, according to Ourimi, these heady days have recently given way to a lack of state direction, as Tunisia has undergone political turmoil.
On current figures, Tunisia has plenty of scope for improving its recycling performance. As at 2019, the country only managed to recycle 4% of all waste generated, despite having set a 2016 target of recycling 70% of total waste. A World Wide Fund for Nature report suggests that Tunisia loses millions of dollars every year due to plastic pollution, which hampers the tourism and fishing sectors (amongst others).
