Among the unregulated dumps in a popular neighborhood in Ben Arous Governorate, Saleem and Marwan begin their summer vacation by collecting trash.  They spend their days in search of various plastic waste, which has come to supplement their livelihoods. 

Both boys live in the same neighborhood and work as a team, then they sell their plastic to a buyer for a price of 400 Tunisian Millimes ( US .25 cents) per kilogram. Hard social conditions and self-reliance have pushed them to search through the garbage, instead of enjoying their summer vacations, like other children.

Among the unregulated dumps in a popular neighborhood in Ben Arous Governorate, Saleem and Marwan begin their summer vacation by collecting trash.  They spend their days in search of various plastic waste, which has come to supplement their livelihoods. 

Both boys live in the same neighborhood and work as a team, then they sell their plastic to a buyer for a price of 400 Tunisian Millimes ( US .25 cents) per kilogram. Hard social conditions and self-reliance have pushed them to search through the garbage, instead of enjoying their summer vacations, like other children.

Their daily trip starts in the morning, interrupted briefly by the scorching summer heat.  They continue rummaging into the evening to end up in front of another collector’s house, where they consolidate their findings in return for a modest sum.

“I collect plastic from dumps and streets,” says Saleem Ben Faraj, a 14 year- old prep school pupil. “Then I sell them in return for some money.  I’m not embarrassed by this job because it helps me save up to buy things I need, especially for the new school year.”

Protecting the environment, threatening children

The Plastic Waste Collection Project, PWCP, aims to protect the environment through recycling plastic materials, under the supervision of the National Waste Management Agency (ANGed). But difficult social conditions of some families and the increased number of unregulated dumps have encouraged many children to join the plastic collection course, in which they represent the weak and exploited link.

PWCP was launched in Tunisia in 2001, and is mainly funded by environmental revenues – a tax paid by all the plastic producing companies, including mineral water and soft drinks companies. It maintains public hygiene in cities, residential communities and beaches and creates new job opportunities through issuing licenses to set-up legally supervised private collection points.

In Chapter 10 of the Waste Plastic Collection Conditions Booklet, it states that scavengers and relevant transporters shall be subjected to regular monitoring by public health agencies. Yet “plastic children” as they are sometimes referred to are not included in this health protection procedure.

A growing disease

Until June 2012, the number of plastic waste collection points amounted to nearly 300, 116 of which were set up by university graduates, in addition to 110 recycling units contracted with ANGed, making it an employment absorption agency in Tunisia.

However, it has concurrently encouraged disadvantaged children to work in this sector, and to consequently expose them to the sun and diseases while they are not covered by any protection programs or benefits from the project, except for negligible amounts of money.

Saleem’s 12 year-old partner Marwan Dhiafi says, “My parents don’t allow me to work because I am still young, but my father can’t afford all my needs. I want to save some money to buy a track suit and sports shoes, and plastic collection is a great way to earn extra money,” he adds.

Sort of illegal

Saleem and Marwan represent a growing number of “plastic children”. Child Rights Defense Society Chairman, Mo’ez Sharif, pointed out that the absence of factual figures and in-depth studies about child labor in Tunisia helped exacerbate this phenomenon and increased children’s rights violations.

Tunisia ratified the International Convention on the Rights of the Child on November 29, 1991 as well as the Child Protection Code issued under Law No. 92 in 1995. Legislators affirmed that the code is a national asset for Tunisia’s children, since its provisions protection for their rights.

“It is commonly known that Tunisian law, including Child Protection Code and Labor Code, prohibits economic exploitation of children and child labour,” says Abdulsattar Manna’ee, a Tunisian lawyer. “It hasn’t however, prevented the increased cases of child labour, especially during summer holidays.” 

“The issue here is somehow complicated,” he continues. “Because there is no direct employer who may be  held legally accountable. Children themselves collect plastic materials and sell them to the collection centers spread in popular neighborhoods.”

During a meeting on ‘Employment of Children in Tunisia’, Child Protection Official in Tunis, Moncef Ben Abdullah, stressed that the number of children under the care of the Children’s Protection Authority do not reflect the real situation, given that true figures are much bigger than what was declared due to a lack of relevant data. 

During a round table discussion, Sharif urged the importance of the role assigned to educational institutions and the need to review school development programs and include children’s rights in the new constitution. He called, in particular, for setting up an independent constitutional body to follow-up on the implementation of children’s rights.