Lebanon's poorest scavenge through trash to survive
ABC News
Even trash has become a commodity fought over in the streets in Lebanon, mired in one of the world’s worst financial crises in modern history
BEIRUT -- In the dark streets of a Beirut now often without electricity, sometimes the only light that shines is from headlamps worn by scavengers, searching through garbage for scrap to sell.
Even trash has become a commodity fought over in Lebanon, mired in one of the world's worst financial crises in modern history.
With the ranks of scavengers growing among the desperately poor, some tag trash cans with graffiti to mark their territory and beat those who encroach on it. Meanwhile, even better-off families sell their own recyclables because it can get them U.S. dollars rather than the country’s collapsing currency.
That’s left the poor even poorer and fearful for their futures.