I wrote this as a email to an associate, concerning local contractors who are happy to dismantle an American built building and haul it away all for no cost. I thought I would share it here:
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I wish I could make this stuff up...
In our country of plenty the result is what it is...no waste recycling. Why bother? It is just as easy to demolish a building and haul the wastes to the landfill, which regardless of the PR the landfills are not full up or else the tipping fee costs would be prohibitive.
In this country of Djibouti that I am in, which has little to nothing the result is... little waste.
In the city the trash from the affluent areas are picked up in normal trash trucks then transported to the immigrant sections of town and dumped in the middle of the main street of these areas. The children and ladies come out and pick through this material for all the good stuff. Then the cattle, goats, and camels go through the rest. A couple of days later the trash people show up again, pick up whatever is left and haul it out to a landfill that was built by the UN 10 years ago which is now no more than a large track of land that trash is dumped (if it makes it that far) on. The UN forgot to provide on going instruction, and inspection, on how to maintain and operate a landfill; another story. People living in this dump then go out and pick through that trash for anything missed by the city people and animals. Then at night the mass of plastic bags, and remaining waste is set on fire, and the resulting smoke bank covers the DoD facility I am at. This smoke is so thick it keeps people awake at night.
The moral of the story--one man's trash is another man's treasure (and livestock feed).
And thus with the American mentality the idea that the demolition of a facility for "FREE" does not compute. When in actuality the local contractors think the Americans are nuts for giving this good stuff away. Each thinks they are getting something over on the other.
Have a GREAT day,
________________________________________________________________________________
I wish I could make this stuff up...
In our country of plenty the result is what it is...no waste recycling. Why bother? It is just as easy to demolish a building and haul the wastes to the landfill, which regardless of the PR the landfills are not full up or else the tipping fee costs would be prohibitive.
In this country of Djibouti that I am in, which has little to nothing the result is... little waste.
In the city the trash from the affluent areas are picked up in normal trash trucks then transported to the immigrant sections of town and dumped in the middle of the main street of these areas. The children and ladies come out and pick through this material for all the good stuff. Then the cattle, goats, and camels go through the rest. A couple of days later the trash people show up again, pick up whatever is left and haul it out to a landfill that was built by the UN 10 years ago which is now no more than a large track of land that trash is dumped (if it makes it that far) on. The UN forgot to provide on going instruction, and inspection, on how to maintain and operate a landfill; another story. People living in this dump then go out and pick through that trash for anything missed by the city people and animals. Then at night the mass of plastic bags, and remaining waste is set on fire, and the resulting smoke bank covers the DoD facility I am at. This smoke is so thick it keeps people awake at night.
The moral of the story--one man's trash is another man's treasure (and livestock feed).
And thus with the American mentality the idea that the demolition of a facility for "FREE" does not compute. When in actuality the local contractors think the Americans are nuts for giving this good stuff away. Each thinks they are getting something over on the other.
Have a GREAT day,
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