Cairo’s ‘Garbage City’ rebranded: It’s recycling ... and a living

In the eastern Cairo neighborhood of Manshiyat Naser, garbage is everywhere: in the streets, piled up in alleyways, in the back of trucks, and even in the hallways of some people’s homes. Its smell is a constant companion.

For some, it’s the smell of opportunity.

“This is a resource, a hidden resource,” says resident Ibrahim Zahi, as he and his workers haul a five-foot stack of pressed plastic onto a grease-covered pickup truck.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It might be a cliché, but it’s a philosophy passed down through generations to Mr. Zahi. And it’s the same ethos that is now powering his community’s