Making a virtue of necessity: recycling solid waste by the poor for the poor

This article presents waste valorization and recuperation activities in a poor area in Greater Cairo

Chiffonniers et entreprises privées internationales Stratégies d'adaptation des acteurs formels et informels face à la reforme de la gestion des déchets au Caire

International audienceResearchers have only recently paid attention to solid waste management in the Arab world. With the arrival of European private companies, the informal system of solid waste management in Egypt has been totally transformed since 2000. In Cairo, the relative failure of the private-controlled system of waste collection has been partly caused by the non-integration of the informal sector (rag-and-bone men, called "zabbâlîn"). Firstly, our paper will provide a brief overview of how informal garbage collectors used to operate before the "privatization" of waste collection and recycling. Zabbâlîn in Egypt are often considered as having the most efficient recycling system in the world with 80% of waste collected and recycled. They also have a great capacity to adjust to new techniques and to recycle new materials. Moreover, the zabbâlîn operate with a wide range of industrial sectors nationally and internationally. However, zabbâlîn also face a number of constraints including health issues, the lack of labour legislation as well as uneven collection in some areas. We will then focus on the transition towards a private waste collection system. In order to highlight its impact on the zabbâlîn, it is important to take into account the local context, in particular the political, social, cultural and religious circumstances. We will also discuss the local communities' reactions, including residents who opposed the introduction of a new waste collection system, rejected the new fees and stood by the side of the zabbâlîn. We will also examine the actors' strategies of adjustment given this new context. Some of the zabbâlîn have been incorporated into the formal labor sector and others have signed contracts with foreign companies to collect and recycle waste. But most of them have resorted to other forms of organization, often illegal. While some traditional intermediaries have been excluded from the new waste collection system, others now play a new role. These new practices have profoundly changed the structure and organization of the zabbâlîn community. They have also created new professional territories based on different activities. The zabbâlîn also rely on different professional networks. Finally, the key issues arising from the case study conducted in Cairo will be discussed namely the relationship between the formal sector, consisting of foreign companies, and the informal sector, found almost all Arab countries. While it cannot be denied that the former has professional expertise in this field, the zabbâlîn's skills can be seen to provide another form of efficient waste management. This raises the further question of the transfer of skills and technology between developed and developing countries.La gestion des déchets dans le Monde Arabe reste encore largement inexplorée par la recherche académique. Or, depuis les années 2000, l'arrivée d'entreprises européennes dans le système de gestion des déchets en Égypte a profondément bouleversé les modes d'organisation antérieure et remis en cause la place et le rôle du secteur informel. En ce qui concerne Le Caire, l'échec relatif de la privatisation est en partie dû à la non-intégration des chiffonniers, appelés les zabbâlîn. À travers l'étude détaillée des relations entre les acteurs formels et informels, cet article retrace les modes de gestion des déchets en Égypte et leurs reconfigurations récentes. Tout d'abord, il présente le système traditionnel des zabbâlîn, puis la transition vers un système privatisé et les conséquences sur cette communauté et, enfin, les différentes stratégies d'adaptation mises en œuvres par les acteurs afin de stabiliser le service et de pérenniser leurs activités. Cette étude de cas est riche d'enseignements pour les autres pays de la région qui partagent les mêmes enjeux et problématiques d'un secteur informel traditionnel confronté à la modernisation du service. Elle pose aussi la question du transfert de compétences entre pays développés et en développement

Sainte Térèse

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 201

Complex organic molecules in comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy): detection of ethylene glycol and formamide

A spectral survey in the 1 mm wavelength range was undertaken in the long-period comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) using the 30 m telescope of the Institut de radioastronomie millim\'etrique (IRAM) in April and November-December 2013. We report the detection of ethylene glycol (CH$_2$OH)$_2$ (aGg' conformer) and formamide (NH$_2$CHO) in the two comets. The abundances relative to water of ethylene glycol and formamide are 0.2-0.3% and 0.02% in the two comets, similar to the values measured in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). We also report the detection of HCOOH and CH$_3$CHO in comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and a search for other complex species (methyl formate, glycolaldehyde).Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Phylogéographie des arbres des forêts du Bas-Guinéen et histoire de la végétation

La phylogéographie tente d'identifier les liens phylétiques entre populations pour reconstruire leur histoire. C'est une source d'information pouvant aider à reconstruire l'histoire de la végétation durant le Quaternaire et notamment tester l'hypothèse des refuges forestiers. Nous avons entamé des études phylogéographiques sur une quinzaine d'espèces d'arbres du bassin Guinéo-Congolais. Les patrons phylogéographiques basés sur les gènes chloroplastiques ou des microsatellites nucléaires permettent le plus souvent d'identifier des pools géniques distincts (Distemonanthus benthamianus, Erythrophleum suaveolens, Greenwayodedron suaveolens, Milicia excelsa, Santiria trimera), traces possibles d'une fragmentation forestière passée. La comparaison entre espèces révèle qu'une disjonction nord-sud se répète sur plusieurs espèces, suggérant une possible séparation entre un bloc forestier nord et un bloc forestier sud. La répartition des allèles rares, traceurs potentiels de refuges forestiers, donne des résultats relativement hétérogènes. Une corrélation entre diversité allélique et position des refuges forestiers hypothétiques est observée chez certaines espèces (Santiria) mais pas d'une manière générale. (Texte intégral

Isotopic ratios of H, C, N, O, and S in comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

The apparition of bright comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) in March-April 2013 and January 2015, combined with the improved observational capabilities of submillimeter facilities, offered an opportunity to carry out sensitive compositional and isotopic studies of the volatiles in their coma. We observed comet Lovejoy with the IRAM 30m telescope between 13 and 26 January 2015, and with the Odin submillimeter space observatory on 29 January - 3 February 2015. We detected 22 molecules and several isotopologues. The H$_2^{16}$O and H$_2^{18}$O production rates measured with Odin follow a periodic pattern with a period of 0.94 days and an amplitude of ~25%. The inferred isotope ratios in comet Lovejoy are $^{16}$O/$^{18}$O = 499 $\pm$ 24 and D/H = 1.4 $\pm$ 0.4 $\times 10^{-4}$ in water, $^{32}$S/$^{34}$S = 24.7 $\pm$ 3.5 in CS, all compatible with terrestrial values. The ratio $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C = 109 $\pm$ 14 in HCN is marginally higher than terrestrial and $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N = 145 $\pm$ 12 in HCN is half the Earth ratio. Several upper limits for D/H or 12C/13C in other molecules are reported. From our observation of HDO in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy), we report the first D/H ratio in an Oort Cloud comet that is not larger than the terrestrial value. On the other hand, the observation of the same HDO line in the other Oort-cloud comet, C/2012 F6 (Lemmon), suggests a D/H value four times higher. Given the previous measurements of D/H in cometary water, this illustrates that a diversity in the D/H ratio and in the chemical composition, is present even within the same dynamical group of comets, suggesting that current dynamical groups contain comets formed at very different places or times in the early solar system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Renal transplantation by automatic anastomotic device in a porcine model

Automatic vascular staplers for vascular anastomoses in kidney transplantation may dramatically reduce the operative time and, in particular, warm ischemia time, thus increasing the outcome of transplantation. Ten pigs underwent kidney auto-transplantation by automatic anastomotic device. Kidneys were collected by laparotomy with selective ligations at the renal hilum and perfused with cold storage solution. To overcome the shortage in length of renal hilum, a tract of the internal jugular vein was harvested to increase the length of the vessels. The anastomoses were totally performed by the use of the anastomotic device. On 10 kidney transplants, nine were successful and no complications occurred. Renal resistive indexes showed a slight increase in the immediate postoperative period returning normal at 10 days of follow-up. We demonstrated the possibility to perform renal vascular anastomoses by means of an automatic anastomotic device. This instrument developed for coronary bypass surgery by virtue of the small caliber of the vessels could be adopted on a larger scale for renal transplantation. The reduced warm ischemia time needed for anastomosis may help to achieve a better outcome for the graft and expand the pool of marginal donors in renal transplantation

Solid waste management cycle in northern Cairo

This report study shows all the economic informal activities related to waste in a popular area of Cairo (Egypt)