Integrated Environmental Systems

Compendium Exploratoria Cairo Waste

Winter 2014
Class: Following is a random selection of papers from the winter classes addressing
the Cairo Waste System. As an opening thought, as far as I have seen in the papers,
nobody mentioned the amount of waste a pig produces in a day. An average pig
produces 14 pounds of waste a day (compared to a human at 4.5 pounds
http://www.uri
.edu/ce/healthylandscapes/livestock/how_manure_overall.htm#amount ). The
300,000 pigs generated approximately 2,000 tons of excrement a day, about 1/6th
the amount of garbage processed in a day. In the multiple decades of this system
working the original location of the Zabbaleen was outside Cairo. Over the years the
city grew around the facility, partially causing much of the tension. Cairo has waste
water/sewage issues to which the pigs added more pressure to. They also have
water issues. It is not a simple issue but most of you did a great job on improving on
your system view. Look at the examples below to see how others addressed this
exercise.
Example 1

This example has one of the best system diagrams with good detail and at
least an attempt to put some of the feedback loops in The metrics are
extensive in the diagram and compliment the paper. The two part system
perspective is helpful and is an interesting contrast to the one later in this
compendium using a color coding scheme. The opening paragraph is concise
and paints a clear picture of the situation and it includes only the key
metrics needed to tell the bigger story. The second paragraph is especially
strong in its focus on the environmental impacts in that it identifies
quantities or metrics allowing us to understand the impacts rather than just
generalizing. The weakness is there appears to be only passing mention of
Figure 2 and none of Figure 1 in the text. The graphic and text need to
complement each other and be linked with some discussion of our main
point in the graphic so the reader does not have to guess at the meaning of
the graphic or your central point. The closing paragraph has several system
solutions and even contains the personal thought of what might be done to
improve our own system. The reference structure needs attention in this
example.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2-Cairo Pigs
In 2009 due to concerns about swine flu, Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak ordered the slaughter of all (300,000) hogs. Prior to the slaughter,

70,000 Christian families known as the Zabaleen would collect about 80% of
the total 13,000 tons per day volume of garbage produced by Cairos 17
million people from street piles, and sort through to separate recyclables as
well as organic matter, which was then sold for pig food. The 20% of
garbage that was not sorted went to landfill. Once the pigs were
slaughtered, the Zabaleen were without a market to sell the organic matter
so stopped collecting and sorting Cairos garbage. The city then hired
garbage services to collect by truck and separate recyclables.
Prior to the slaughter, organic pig food, which was about 40% of the
total sorted garbage was 4,160 tons per day. 50% of the sorted garbage
was recycled, totaling 5,200 tons per day. About 10% of the sorted garbage
was sent to landfill, totaling 1,040 tons per day. Since an average pig
produces about 9.5 lbs of manure per day (Chastain, 2003) total manure
production equaled 1,425 tons per day. Methane production from manure
equals 1.8 cubic feet per pound of waste, per day (EPA), and so methane
gas was being produced at a rate of 5.13 million cubic feet per day (see
figure 1). Since the slaughter, the current collection service is now sending
about 25% to recycling (3,250 tons per day) and 75% to landfill which totals
9,750 tons per day. Of that amount 40% is organic, or 5,200 tons per day.
Using the methane production rate, this organic matter produces 18.72
million cubic feet per day (see figure 2). Environmental consequences for the
pig slaughter include an increase of 6,110 tons per day of waste to landfill,
an increase of 13.59 million cubic feet per day of methane gas production,
and a reduction in recycling of 1,950 tons per day.
As of 2010 the situation has not improved, and is not sustainable. The
garbage piles on the streets could become breeding grounds for diseases
such as typhoid and cholera (Emam, 2010). Estimates by the current ruling
party are that $460million (US) is needed to tackle the garbage problem. I
believe that to increase the sustainability of this system, and to mitigate
current increases in waste, pig farms should be re-introduced to locations
outside of the city proper. The Zabaleen jobs that were lost could be
regained, the excess landfill deposits and methane production could be
brought back to pre-slaughter levels, and recycling could again be increased.
The new pig location would require trucking, which would have to be
compared to trucking currently being done. My personal plan is to be
particularly diligent about the portion of my waste stream that does get to
recycling, and to enquire about what programs are available in my area for
composting organic solid waste.

References

Williams. 2009. Egypts pigs are getting their revenge. September.

Accessed 20 January, 2014.http://www.bloomberg.com /apps/news?
pid=email_en&sid=aMODvyHlOBAE#
Emam. 2010. Egypt: Pig cull induced street rubbish a national scandal.
January. Accessed 20 January, 2014. No white space here
http://www.irinnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=87853
Missing author. Missing Year. Anaerobic Digestion of Solid Waste and
Sewage Sludge. Missing publisher. Missing Access date.
nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=9100OH27.txt.
Chastain. 2003. Swine Manure Production and Nutrient Content. January.
Accessed 20 January 2014.www.clemson.edu
/extension/livestock/camm/camm_files/swine/sch3a_03.pdf

Example 2

First off, the formatting and references on this exercise are as close to
perfect as it gets. The duel system diagram helps sort out the before and
after situation and it has good metrics in key spots. Some see the pigs as a
reservoir (stock) as in this depiction. Others as a converter providing flow
control as part of a feedback loop. If we took the pigs out (as did happen)
and replaced them with a waste to energy generator (essentially what the
pigs are as they are with some low efficiency converting garbage to stored
energy but at the same time generating a considerable amount of fecal and
other waste) would we show the generator as a stock? Probably not!
This is very well written and the three paragraphs address the system
components in good detail.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2 Cairo Pigs

With a population of approximately 17 million, generating upwards of 13,000

tons of waste each day, Cairo is infamous for images of garbage-filled streets
(Williams 2009; Federal Information & News Dispatch 2009). The people of Cairo
relied on the Zabaleen, Egyptian Arabic for garbage people, to serve as Cairos
informal waste management system for decades; collecting approximately 8,000
tons of trash door-to-door every day and recycling upwards of 80% (Laylin 2012;
Fahmi and Sutton 2010, 1772). To achieve such high recycling rates, the
Zabbaleens system relied heavily on pigs. The pigs consume any organic waste,
after which the remaining trash is sorted into plastic, paper, aluminum, and etc.
Those materials can then be sold or can be used to create new goods such as
plastic pellets and handmade crafts (Fahmi and Sutton 2006, 812). This system was
disrupted after the mass culling of some 300,000 pigs, in response to the swine-flu
pandemic of 2009 (Williams 2009).
As stated above and displayed below in Figure 1, Cairos 17 million
inhabitants generate 13,000 tons of waste per day (Federal Information & News
Dispatch 2009). Theres a reinforcing feedback loop which dictates that as the
population grows (or their consumption grows), the amount of waste generated will
also grow. Approximately 8,000 tons of that waste is collected by the Zabaleen each
day (Laylin 2012). Those 8,000 tons are then fed to a reservoir of ~300,000 pigs
(Williams 2009). The pigs consume about 60% of that waste and 80% of the
remaining waste is recycled; either through the sale of recycled goods or the
creation of recycled handmade crafts (Fahmi and Sutton 2010, 1772-1774). The
remaining 20% is then dumped on the outskirts of the city, contributing to the
environmental and public health issues. Even with the Zabaleens system in play,
the improper disposal of approximately 5,000+ tons of waste on the streets of Cairo
and elsewhere has led to the contamination of water sources, threatening the
health of Cairos inhabitants (Zafar 2012). It is also important to note that the
Zabaleen make a living also from the periodic sale of their pigs; selling 5-15 pigs for
slaughter every 6 months (Fahmi and Sutton 2010, 1774). Without the pig reservoir
in the system, most Zabaleen found the sorting and disposal process not worthwhile
and they lost the potential to make money by selling pigs for slaughter. As shown in
Figure 2, without the pig reservoir theoretically all 13,000 tons of waste generated

each day is just tossed into the streets, exacerbating the already existent
sanitation, public health, and environmental health problems.
The fundamental flaw in the waste collection and disposal system in Cairo is that it
relies on an impoverished group of people. Even when the Zabaleen had the pigs in
the system, they were collecting trash for next-to-nothing, being treated as secondclass citizens, and making just enough to get by on. No system can be truly
sustainable if it relies on taking advantage of a group of people. I think that no
matter what the Egyptian government does, the system cannot be actually
successful until the people of Cairo are educated on proper waste disposal. People
think that throwing their waste into the streets is acceptable; someone [the
Zabaleen] will just come pick it up. Many dont realize that such actions create the
public health and environmental health problems that plague the city. Until the
underlying lack of understanding in this society is addressed, no system will be truly
sustainable. The same lack of understanding can be seen in our society. Some
people are raised to believe they can litter. I take every opportunity to impress upon
friends and family that this is not an acceptable action and will certainly make sure
it is known if/when my kids come around. Another issue common between both
societies is that, as individuals, we generate tons of waste. I bring my own bags to
the grocery store to cut down on the number of plastic/paper bags thrown in the
trash and I would love to implement composting to reduce the amount of organic
materials I put into the garbage every week.

Figure 1-Cairo Waste Scenario with Zabaleen and their Pigs

Figure 2-Cairo Waste Scenario without Zabaleen and their Pigs

References
Fahmi, Wael Salah, and Keith Sutton. 2006. Cairos Zabaleen Garbage Recyclers:
Mutli-nationals Takeover and State Relocation Plans. Habitat International
30, no. 4 (December): 809-837. Accessed January 20, 2014.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2005.09.006.
Fahmi, Wael Salah, and Keith Sutton. 2010. Cairos Contested Garbage: Sustainable
Solid Waste Management and the Zabaleens Right to the City. Sustainability
2, no. 6 (June): 1765-1783. Accessed January 20, 2014. DOI:
10.3390/su2061765.
Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. 2009. Garbage Collection in Cairo
Collapses. Voice of America News, October 16. Accessed January 20, 2014.
http://0-search.proquest.com.bianca.penlib.du.edu/docview/190466738?
accountid=14608.
Laylin, Tafline. 2012. Where do Cairos Zabaleen Garbage Sorters Stand Under
President Morsi? Green Prophet, August 18. Accessed January 20, 2014.
http://www.greenprophet.com/2012/08/
president-morsi-zabaleen-cairo/.
Meadows, Donella H. 2008. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. London: Earthscan.
Williams, Daniel. 2009. Swine-Flu Slaughter Leaves Cairo Without Pigs to Devour
Trash. Bloomberg, September 28. Accessed January 20, 2014.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aMODvyHlOBAE.

Zafar, Salman. 2012. Garbage Woes in Cairo. EcoMENA, October 23. Accessed
January 20, 2014. http://www.ecomena.org/tag/waste-management-in-cairo/.

Example 3

This has a good opening paragraph with sufficient metrics to define the
system. The center paragraph has some good added detail but does not put
a face on the environmental impacts although it mentions they exist. How
much disease or other impacts was there? The major missing element is the
lack of relating to the graphic. I liked this example for that reason as it is
often an error in our writing to thrown in graphics that should help the
conversation but are just left as eye candy. The system diagram itself and
some interesting elements but does not follow the Meadows set of tools.
While three references are noted in the text as existing, only one shows up
in the reference list.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2-Cairo-Pigs
In 2009, the Egyptian government made a decision to kill the all
amount of pigs in the city, about 300,000 (Slackman 2009). Up until this
point, pigs were used to in Cairo to eat tons of organic waste. Each day in
Cairo, Egypt, the city produces more than 15,000 tons of solid waste (Zafar,
2012). Now the pigs are gone and the rotting food piles up on the streets of
middle-class neighborhoods . CITATION Sal12 \l 1033 Egyptian Christian minorities
are known as rag pickers, or Zabaleen, a community of people who live on
the cliffs on the eastern edge of the city. They collected the trash, sold the
recyclables and fed the organic waste to their pigs which they then
slaughtered and ate. In 2009, this system was disrupted when all of the pigs
were slaughtered in response to a swine-flu epidemic. The Zabbaleen collect
around 60 percent of the total solid waste generated in Cairo and recycle up
to 80 percent of the collected waste which is much higher than recycling
efficiencies observed in the Western world. CITATION Mic09 \l 1033 They have
created a very sustainable and efficient system for garbage removal, which
was completely disrupted by the mass slaughter. Although the waste
continued to pile up, the Zabaleen were unable to continue collecting and
recycling trash in the same way.
Cairo is a metropolis area that is 453 square kilometers and hosts
nearly fifteen million people. Until the pigs were slaughtered, it was
customary for residents to dump their trash in front of their house where
Zabaleen and their pigs would take care of the clean-up. When the pigs were
slaughtered, this affected about 400,000 people in Zabaleen families who no
longer had means to efficiently get rid of organic waste that they had been
CITATION Sal12 \l 1033 (Slackman 2009)
CITATION Mic09 \l 1033 (Zafar 2012)

feeding to the pigs. It is estimated that the Zabaleen were collecting 6,000
tons of trash a day, and 60 percent of that was food waste. Private carters
collected an additional 2,000 tons a day (Slackman 2009). With the pigs
gone, the organic waste is piling up. This is causing serious ecological and
public health issues and, disposal of solid waste in water bodies has led to
contamination of water supplies in several parts of the city. CITATION Sal12 \l 1033
After witnessing and experience the backlash of the slaughter, some
officials in the city have slowly begun to recognize the important role pigs
and Zabaleen play in the waste collection and disposal sector of the city. Pigs
are quietly making a comeback although efforts to completely reintroduce
them have been halted in some areas.
Since 2009, the city has tried to employ different tactics of waste
management by hiring different private sectors. These foreign companies
however, ended up dumping all of the waste into landfills which also became
a significant problem. The organic waste dumped, turns into methane when
improperly composted and poses environmental threats. I think that what
the government should do to create a sustainable system is publicly
announce its support of the Zabaleens system and create programs to
support the Zabaleen. I would implement a team to create ways to support
the Zabaleens system in order to create more green energy with all the
waste collected.
400,000 Zabaleen
people

15 million
people

15 tons of waste
produced each day

60% Trash collected by

Zabaleen

CITATION Sal12 \l 1033 Ibid

Pigs eaten to sustain

Zabaleen

60% of trash
collected by
Zabaleen eaten by
pigs

Zafar, Salman October 23, 2012. Garbage Woes in Cairo. Accessed 1

January, 2014. http://www.ecomena.org/tag/waste-management-incairo/

Example 4

This has a very comprehensive system diagram with good metrics. The
opening is comprehensive and includes key metrics. The center paragraph
expands the discussion and identifies potential health or welfare impacts but
provides no metric to show this is more than speculation. As with many of
these exercises, the graphic is present but not mentioned. The point of the
graphic is to compliment the discussion by providing more information than
one wants to write about but also to focus attention on key factors in the
system .The beauty of this example is found in the closing paragraph where
suggesting one gets at the source of the waste in the first place will make
the ultimate difference. Rarely is this option noted.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2-Cairo pigs
Cairo is the capital city of Egypt, with a population of 17 million. Now,
Cairo is facing an awkward and urgent fact that it is besieged by garbage.
According to statistics, 13000 tons of garbage are being produced every day
(Wikipedia 2014). However, situation was different before 2009. Since April
2009, the Egyptian authority started culling of all pigs of Cairo, as a
response to cutting the spread of H1N1 influenza. From then on, waste
issues became thorny. Traditional ways to handle the garbage is done by
Zabbaleen, a Christian sect, collecting wastes to sustain their families. It was
shown that Zabbaleen collected 80 percent of the discarded wastes in their
peak efficiency. Since 2003, foreign companies were brought in to tackle the
waste problem, but mere 25 percent of garbage can be collected by them
with the government's investing 50 million dollars per year (Fahmi 2005,
158). The slaughter of pig worsened the waste condition in Cairo because
pigs used to be an important part of processing collected garbage.
In the former waste collection and disposal mode, wastes are produced
as two forms: organic and inorganic. Organic wastes, such as food leftover,
are collected as food resource for pigs raised by Zabbaleen people, there
was more than 250,000 hogs in the past Cairo (Fahmi 2005, 158), they ate
organic wastes then be killed and sold to make money for the owners. For
the inorganic waste, some of them were cleverly remade by handymen and
be sold as new products. Another direction the wastes flow to is the waste
management firms, they can eliminate 25 percent of total waste, that is,
about 3000 tons of waste are disposed by firms. The last direction is being
piled on the street, after the hogs were massacred, there are more than
6000 tons of garbage are being piled on the street and impose obviously
negative effects on the environment. They may produce methane or other
hazardous gas if improperly composted. Rats and snakes hide in the
garbage, threatening people' safety and health. What is more, if the wastes

were piled on the side of the rivers, they will definitely contaminate the
water.
To make this system more sustainable, building garbage recycling
plants is the optimal choice. Otherwise, utilizing hogs to convert the organic
wastes to edible pork is also eco-friendly, however, this must be in the
premise of a health cultivating environment and the prevention of illness.
The last but not the least, strengthening people's awareness of waste
recycling and resource saving can ameliorate the waste quandary from the
root.

Inorganic: plastic, construction materials Organic: Food, animal dead body

References

Meadows, Donella H. 2008. Thinking in System. Edited by Diana Wright.

White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
Wikipedia. 2014. Zabbaleen. Accessed January 20,
2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabbaleen.

Peoples awareness of
saving

Fahmi, Wael Salah. 2005. The

Societys development
Impact of Privatization
of
Solid
Garbage
Kinds of
Waste Management on the Zabbaleen
garbage
Garbage Collectors of Cairo. Environment &
Urbanization 17, no. 2:158-169. Access date and URL?

Numbers
of
dustbins

Governmen
ts
investment

Discard on
the street

Waste
management
firms

6000tons/d
ay

Pigs More than

250,000 capita

Resalabl
e
material

3000tons/day

Customer
s
demand

Pigs birth
rate
Customers
Customers

Pollutants into the air or water

Generate power

Cost of incineration
disposal

Landfill

Condition of the
environmental pollution

Example 5
This has a very interesting system graphic showing two layers of information with
the red broken lines and the results of taking the pigs out of the system. There are
no feedback loops but quantities in key parts of the system are expressed. While
the graphic would have been very helpful as part of the discussion, it does not
appear to be mentioned in the text so the reader is left to figure out the point of the
figure. All figures must be directly discussed and a point made to help the reader
focus on the critical element of the figure or table. As with the other examples in the
Compendium, this has a strong opening with key metrics describing the system.
Note in this some editing would remove repeated or unnecessary information
helping the reader to get to the point. The last half of the second paragraph gets at
the heart of the system discussion while the 1 st half largely repeats information
found in the opening. Focusing on the system discussion and environmental impacts
should be the heart of the second paragraph. The closing paragraph has a few
thoughts about corporate changes but lapses some stray information that might
have been in the second paragraph showing why the system was not working.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2-Hogs-Gone-Wild
The city of Cairo, Egypt has become a massive collection of a variety of social
groups over the past hundred years. The two major groups, Muslims and Christians,
greatly differ in opinion on what is now realized to be a crucial part of the system of
municipal waste recovery in Cairo, the pig. A Christian group, at least 80,000
members in number, known as the Zabaleen, has been responsible for recycling
about 80% of the waste produced in Cairo over the past several decades (Viney
2013). With Cairos population approximately 17 million, it is estimated the people
of Cairo produce 14,000 tons of solid waste daily (Viney 2013). The Zabaleens
amazing efficient recycling methods only worked because the pigs owned by the
Zabaleen could root through the trash and remove the organic waste. After a fearful
response to swine flu outbreak in Mexico, Egyptian authorities ordered all pigs be
slaughtered (Londono 2012). With the removal of the pigs the trash began piling up
since the Zabaleen could no longer handle the sheer quantities of the 17 million
person population. The government began trying to incentivize garbage collection
companies to remove the trash but due to the political turmoil that has occurred in
Egypt, significantly since the 2011 revolt, the government has not been coming
through with their payments leaving garbage collection companies short on funds
for employees (Londono 2012). Additionally, since 2002, a multi-million dollar
contract has been set in place to help bring international waste management
companies into Egypt to help alleviate the stress but adding competition for the
Zabaleen (Viney 2013).
The city of Cairo, with more than 17 million inhabitants, produces
approximately 14,000 tons of solid waste daily thrown onto their streets. When the
Zabaleen had access to pigs, they were able to process at least 6,000 tons of waste
per day providing a great service to the city. Of that at least 6,000 tons daily,
approximately 60% of it was organic waste that was consumed by the Zabaleen

pigs (Fahmi and Sutton 2010). When the pigs reached full size, they could be sold to
a slaughter house for as much as $200 per pig (Fahmi and Sutton 2010). The waste
not consumed by the pigs but collected by the Zabaleen was recycled at incredible
efficiency; 80-90% of all non-organic waste was recycled and sold, about 4 times
the recycling rate in Western recycling companies (Viney 2013). The other portion of
waste disposal came from the international waste management companies that
were incentivized to aid in Cairos troubles by a 2002 multi-million dollar contract
(Viney 2013). The exact statistics for these companies is difficult to predict or find
but the overall results of their actions has been described as dismal. Additionally,
with the economic and political turmoil that has taken place in Egypt, many
companies have no interest in trying to manage this crisis due to the governments
reoccurring inability to pay for the services (Londono 2012). With the lack of success
by international companies between 2002 and 2009, it is not surprising that the
removal of pigs from the system drastically reduces the Zabaleens ability to sort
trash and thus the waste is left in the streets with the major disposer hindered
greatly. When the pigs are banned the valve of Zabaleen removing trash from the
system drastically closes reducing the amount of trash to a quantity they can now
handle. With the flux of trash from the streets to the Zabaleen reduced so greatly,
the amount of trash in the system begins to exponentially pile up. Having such
substantial amount of trash in contact with the public can be a major health hazard
and has begun attracting a wide variety of pests to the streets of Cairo. Additionally,
the positive environmental impact done by the Zabaleens amazing recycling efforts
is lost when their way of life is compromised.
This problem is one that continues still this day. The situation in Cairo has not
greatly improved and their government has been going through an unprecedented
time of change in Egypt. Having discussed the system analysis of waste in Cairo, I
believe the most obvious way to relieve a major amount of stress is to re-allow pigs
in the city for use by the Zabaleen. The fear of swine flu has come and gone but due
to the large population of Muslims and a Muslim democratic leader, the likelihood of
pigs being given back to the Zabaleen seems very slim. The government of Egypt
doesnt seem to view the return of pigs as an option and continues to try to improve
the situation through other means. A plausible option is to educate the public of
Cairo to themselves sort their waste between organic and non-organic so the load is
not as hard on the waste management companies and they would really just need
to collect the trash. Another option for greatly improving the system and its
sustainability would be for the government of Egypt to recognize and value the work
provided by the Zabaleen. Their value to society seems obvious from the systems
perspective but the government is yet to recognize their group as a legitimate
organization, possibly due to their Christian background in a Muslim dominated
region. The Zabaleen are unable to fight for their political justice due to their great
need to work every moment to provide for their livelihoods. Although a strike could
result in political pressure the Zabaleen are too poor to stop working even for such a
cause (Viney 2013). Giving this valuable group of people rights and legitimacy could
make way for a much more productive waste management system.

Figure 1-System diagram showing waste management in Cairo, Egypt. The red lines
indicate the removal of pigs from the system.
References
Fahmi, Wael and Keith Sutton. 2010. Cairos Contested Garbage: Sustainable Solid
Waste Management and the Zabaleens Right to the City. Sustainability
2010, no. 2 (June 2010): 1765-1783. Accessed January 20, 2014. doi:
10.3390/su2061765.
Londono,Ernesto. 2012. Egypts garbage crisis bedevils Morsi. The Washington
Post, August 26, 2012. Accessed January 20, 2014.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/egypts-garbage-crisis-bedevilsmorsi/2012/08/26/6fdfad1e-ec6a-11e1-866f-60a00f604425_story.html
Viney, Steven. Despite a new regime, Cairos garbage collectors face the same
hardships. Egypt Independent, February 19, 2013. Accessed January 20,
2014. http://www.egyptindependent
.com/news/despite-new-regime-cairo-s-garbage-collectors-face-samehardships.

Example 6
Overall this is an excellent example. The references and formatting are nearly
perfect. The graphic in this exercise is attractive and attempts to put feedback loops
in the system. Note in the Meadows system feedback loops connect the reservoir to
the handle of the valve and this may be through some converter. The main reservoir
or stock in the system is likely not people but garbage. The opening paragraph is
full of details but with the desire to keep these at 1 page, the first half might have
been extraneous information concerning population density. The system is about
waste and while the population density comparisons are possibly important, they
are not in this context. It is, howerve, well written and entertaining. The second
paragraph directly references the graphic and adds good detail about a variety of
environmental impacts although it does not offer any metrics to help define the
problem. Pig waste and odors were a significant issue already present in the system
which was replaced with other impacts. The closing paragraph offers several options
and even, a personal perspective.

Integrated Environmental Systems W2014

Exploratoria 2-Hogs Gone Wild
Waste management is a system that, when functioning effectively, is
often overlooked and taken for granted by most people. Waste disappears. It
is out of sight and out of mind. Unfortunately, this scenario does not hold
true for the people of Cairo, Egypt where garbage floods the streets. Not
only is Cairo one of the worlds largest cities, but it is also one of the most
populated urban areas in the world. Cairo hosts approximately 17 million
people, which is roughly 44,500 people per square mile (World Population
Statistics 2013). To put it in perspective, New York City has a population of
around 8.337 million people with a density of 27,550 people per square mile
(World Population Statistics 2013). Cairos population has been growing so
fast, they are drowning in garbage. For decades, Egypts Zabaleen people
collected Cairos trash and hauled it to their homes on the outskirts of the
city, sorted through the garbage by hand, and sold the recyclable materials.
Pigs ate the organic leftovers and were sold as a food source for humans.
This is how the Zabaleen made a living and they became very efficient with
the waste management system they had in place. Everything was reused,
including using pig waste as a source of heat (Chiaramonte 2013). However,
the system became broken in 2009 when the Egyptian government ordered
hundreds of thousands of pigs killed, an estimated 300,000, due to the
swine flu epidemic (Chiaramonte 2013). All the while, the human population
kept growing and the garbage kept accumulating, causing trash to pile up on
the streets of Cairo. Additionally, the livelihood of the Zabaleen, around
70,000 people, was in decline as they plunged into poverty (Jamil 2011).

Everyday, Cairo produces around 14,000 tons of trash (Viney 2013).

The Zabaleen reuse or recycle approximately an astounding 85% of all the
waste that they collect, at a fraction of the cost of the modern waste
management systems, which can recycle just 70% of all material (Jamil
2011). Of the waste collected, 60 percent was organic garbage or food waste
that the pigs would consume (Fahmi and Sutton 2010). As displayed in
Figure 1, without the pigs in place, it is impossible for Cairos waste
management system to keep up with the amount of waste. The Zabaleens
could no longer deal with organic materials, forcing them to stop collecting
organic waste. This confliction resulted in piles of garbage in the streets and
in public places throughout Cairo. Furthermore, the threat surrounding swine
flu has been replaced by health hazards associated with rotting waste. This
unsustainable waste management system has caused environmental impacts
on Cairos air, water, and food. The air is often polluted from the release of
methane from waste and heavy smoke from burning trash. The stench of
rotting and burning waste is horrendous, especially on hot days. Waterways
are also polluted from excessive waste and food is impacted from the
millions of flies and rodents throughout the city.
The story of Cairos waste and the Zabaleen is a great example of how
a working system that includes social and environmental harmony can be
destroyed by political actions. Long before even one swine flu case was
reported, Egypts president ordered all pigs be killed. Then, health officials
worldwide released information that the swine flu cannot be passed by pigs
(Slackman 2009). Many people believe this had less to do with the threat of
spreading the disease and more to do with religious influences. It can be
said that the Zabaleens waste management system, with the inclusion of
pigs, contains the three pillars of sustainability: social, environment, and
economic. The Zabaleen were able to keep waste off the streets of Cairo
while reducing environmental impacts and providing jobs and income for
their people. Without pigs in the picture, the entire system crumbled.
Recently, the pigs have been discreetly reintroduced into the Zabaleen waste
management system with no scrutiny from the Egyptian government.
Additionally, the Zabaleens have been able to reduce the remaining garbage
by 80 percent and the remaining waste is taken to landfills (Chiaramonte
2013). From this point forward, the people of Cairo as well as the
government should not take for granted the social, environmental, and
economical services the people of Zabeleen provide. The system that has
worked for decades should not be altered unless to provide financial support
and health services to the people who take care of the waste so effectively.
Cairo would benefit with government support that works alongside the
Zabaleen people. However, it is important for the people of Cairo to realize
that their actions do make a difference. Most people are not accustomed to
utilizing a trashcan to discard their waste. They are used to throwing it on

the street or any other place. Grassroots campaigns as well as education can
help eliminate this problem and keep the streets of Cairo clean and safe.
Furthermore, alternative ways of dealing with organic matter can be
introduced into Cairo as long as the pigs keep doing what they love, eating!
In my personal life, I can alter my waste production by composting my
organic waste. Whether it be collecting and dropping off my organic material
at a drop site or starting a compost bin at my home. Most of the trash in my
household is organic material and it is wasteful throwing it in the garbage.

Feedback loop: Some recyclable

materials likely become part of
the packaging flow again
Flow of food and
packaging into Cairo

Flow of organic
matter, recyclable
materials, and
other waste

Food

85% of waste is
reused or recycled

Flow of nonrecyclable
material

Landfill
Cairo
human
population:
17 million

Streets &
Public
Places in
Cairo
Flow of unconsumed
organic waste

Feedback loop: Depending on

diets and religious beliefs, some
Cairo citizens eat pork

Pig Population:
Quantity is dependent
on political and social
influences

Figure 1- Hogs gone wild stock and-flow system diagram

References
Chiaramonte, Perry. 2013. Egypt once again turns to garbage people and
pigs to solve growing trash problem. http://www.foxnews.com/world/
2013/12/21/egypt-turns-once-again-to-pigs-copts-as-garbagemounts/ (accessed January 18, 2014).
Fahmi, Wael and Keith Sutton. 2010. Cairos contested garbage: Sustainable
solid waste management and the Zabaleens right to the city. http://
www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/6/1765 Sustainability 2, no. 6:17651783.
Jamil, Rehan Rafay. 2011. The Zabaleen: Cairos innovative garbage
collectors. http://cairofrombelow.org/2011/08/31/the-zabaleen-cairo
%E2%80%99s-innovative-garbage-collectors/ (accessed January 18,
2014).
Viney, Steven. 2013. Despite a new regime, Cairos garbage collectors face
the same hardships. http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/despite-

new-regime-cairo-s-garbage-collectors-face-same-hardships (accessed
January 18, 2014).
World Population Statistics. 2013. Population of New York City. http://www
.worldpopulationstatistics.com//?s=new+york+city+population
(accessed January 18, 2014).
World Population Statistics. 2013. Cairo population 2013. http://www
.worldpopulationstatistics.com/cairo-population-2013/ (accessed
January 18, 2014).

Example 7

Thist example has considerable metrics and is well written to create a

sense of the issues and some personal information adds to the dimension of
the story. Note in this example the system diagram has flow lines going both
directions from reservoirs. This is never the case in the Meadows depiction
of a system. The flow back to a reservoir comes in the form of feedback
loops. Look at figure 37 for a more complex diagram containing several
reservoirs or for a simpler system look at figure 27 or 29 in the Meadows
text. This has a strong opening with many metrics. The center paragraph
adds detail but repeats some of the opening material and lapses into
solutions which should be reserved for the closing. The closing paragraph
has an excellent set of thoughts on how to make the system function in a
better manner. While I dont necessarily agree with the solution, it is our goal
to attempt to look at alternatives so this is as good as any other suggestion.
From a personal standpoint, the author does not appear to apply the thinking
to their own waste generation system but the detail on the corporate
solution was very good. There are a number of spots where material and
metrics are repeated, to the distraction of the main point. The author
references several elements of the system diagram and correctly identifies
pressure on the system. The references are nearly perfect and I noted only
a few errors.
The Zabaleen are Coptic Christians who have (since the 1940s) been the traditional
waste collectors of Cairo, Egypt. The Zabaleen have created one of the worlds most efficient
and sustainable systems of resource-recovery and waste recycling (Fahmi 2010). To the
Zabaleen disposing of Cairos waste is not a job, it is a life, its their identity. The Zabaleen
are an extremely marginalized religious minority numbering about 400,000 (Slackman
2009). Cairos population of 18 million produces about 8,000 tons of garbage a day. Of this
the Zabaleens collect 6,000 tons-private garbage collectors the remaining 2,000 tons.
According to the Zabaleen 60% of the trash is food waste. This means the Zabaleen recycle
(8,000 x .6) 4,800 tons of food waste per day, and they also recycle (8,000 x .2) 1,600 tons
of paper, metals and plastics (Slackman 2009). The Zabaleen have created a unique and
very efficient and ecologically sound way to dispose of Cairos 4,800 tons/day, or
144,000,000 kilograms/month, of food waste. Their system is to sort the garbage and
harvest the recyclable materials to subsidize their incomes. The food waste (4,800 tons/day)
is feed to pigs. This system results in 80% of Cairos garbage being recycled (Stix 2010) and
(Iskander 2010). This unique system creates a way to dispose of massive volumes of food
waste and in the process create useable byproducts-pig meat and composted manure.
Ironically, the unique aspect of this system-the pigs-were the cause of the problem that
perturbed the system. For the Zabaleen the pigs covert system input (food waste) into a
valuable output (pig meat and compost). However, to the 90% Muslim majority pigs are
Haram. In the spring of 2009, in the name of protecting the country from swine flu, the
Islamic state made a rash decision, without consulting the Zabaleen, and slaughtered
300,000 pigs. Slackman (2009) and Stix (2010) believe the swine flu was only used as an
excuse to rid the Islamic state of pigs. Getting rid of pigs was great thing if you were a
conservative Muslim but a horrific nightmare if you were a Zabaleen, or simply someone
who likes a clean city.
The primary pressure on the garbage disposal system created from eliminating
300,000 pigs was the ability to dispose of approximately 33,600 kilograms of food waste per

week (4,800/day x 7), in a simple, tidy and efficient manner. It is critical to note that 33,600
kilograms of food waste rotting, stinking and potentially spreading disease is not comparable
to an equal weight of paper or aluminum cans littering a city. Rotting food waste can lead to
massive system perturbations and can drive other undesirable systems, like rat populations.
In a developing nations like Egypt, when a system goes from having the majority of food
waste rapidly feed to pigs in a controlled manner-see figure 1-to the food waste not getting
collected, then rotting and becoming available to pick your pest, it opens up very real
epidemiological threats that are likely orders of magnitude greater than the minimal
epidemiological threats swine flu initially presented. It is important to note that if the city of
Cairo was able to have had residents separate food waste from garbage and then had a
system in place to remove the garbage and then compost the food waste, there likely would
of not been a major perturbation to the system, when the pigs were removed from the
system. This (separating and composting food waste) would be an excellent way to adjust
system inputs (not just outputs) to make the system both more efficient and resilient.
Another suggestion to adjust system inputs would be to create strategies to reduce garbage
production. An important point is the Zabaleen system recycled about 80% of the garage
(60% food waste and 20% other garbage)-see figure 1. This means in order for a new, nonZabaleen system, to be balanced, the alternative garbage disposal system would need to
compost the food waste (60% of the garbage) and then recycle about 20% of the remaining
garbage. Considering these percentages it is interesting that, according to Iskander (2010),
in 2003, the Egyptian government hired western garbage disposal experts to try and replace
the Zabaleen. These western garbage disposal experts were contractually obliged to recycle
20% of the waste they collected. This experiment of replacing the Zabaleen failed miserably
as the western garbage disposal experts could not match the efficiency or cost effectiveness
of the Zabaleen system. As a result the Egyptian government has now brought, the
Zabaleen back to the core of the waste collection and disposal process (Gunard 2013, 2).
The primary perturbation to the system was removing 300,000 pigs from the waste
disposal equation, allowing for 4,800 tons of food waste to not be managed properly. This
crated a very smelly and unsightly city, so much that it became an important presidential
election issue (Gunard 2013). As mentioned above, the Egyptian government has now
officially brought back the Zabaleen as the cornerstone of Cairos waste management. This
will likely result in much more effective waste management, that will be able to deal with
and process the 4,800 tons of food waste the city produces each day. It is likely garbage
disposal will rapidly improve, especially if the Zabaleen have healthy pig populations. Based
on my extensive travel throughout much of India, a country with similar waste disposal and
socioeconomic challenges as Egypt, I have some suggestions that could improve the
Zabaleen system. In India, as in Egypt, there are often very real and serious religious
tensions that can boil over and cause major perturbations in the system. As mentioned
above, I believe the primary reason the pigs were slaughtered (the reason for system
perturbation) was largely related to religious intolerance of pigs. In India, cows are the
primary composters or recyclers of food waste. If the Egyptian government could tactically
and intelligently encourage the Zabaleen to slowly start replacing pigs with cows, to
compost/recycle food waste, it seems probable that this would be a solution to symbiotically
meet the needs of the Zabaleen/food waste disposal and the religious needs of the Muslims.
Furthermore, from a systems thinking perspective, cows provide many additional beneficial
outputs compared to pigs. With cows the inflow of food waste creates output of valuable
renewable assets: milk, curd, butter and large amounts of fertilizer/cooking fuel. Kill a pig
and you have meat for while, raise a cow and you have all the above valuable and nutritious
outputs for years. Additionally, if the Zabaleen needed money urgently, compared to pig
meat, cow meat would likely have greater liquidity and value in a Muslim majority nation. By
slowly switching pigs for cows, the feedbacks loops could be balanced to maintain
equilibrium within the system, and this would likely ease racial relations between the
Muslims and Christians. Lastly, an excellent way to increase the efficiency and sustainability
of garbage disposal in Cairo would be for the government to invest in harvesting methane

from its landfills; convert that into natural gas and sell it to the Zabaleen at a discount as a
form of compensation for their services. This would be a win-win situation, it would maximize
system efficiencies; it would turn the dump from a sink for garbage into a reservoir for fuel.
As Meadows says, An important function of almost every system is to ensure its own
perpetuation (Meadows, 2010, 15).

Figure 1. Systems diagram of Zabaleen garbage disposal, with pigs, in Cairo, Egypt.
References
Fahmi, Wael, and Sutton, Keith. 2010. Cairos Contested Garbage: Sustainable Solid Waste
Management and the Zabaleens Right to the City. Sustainability 2, no. 6:1765-1783.
Accessed January 16, 2014. http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/2/6/1765.
Gunard, Marion. 2013. Cairo Puts Its Faith In Ragpickers to Manage Cities Waste Problem.
Guardian, November 19. Accessed January 17. 2014.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/cairo-ragpickers-zabaleen-egyptrecycling.
Iskander, Mai. 2010. Interview by Youtube, May 20. Accessed January 17, 2014.
http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=a0jRSd30Psg.
Meadows, Donella H. 2008. Thinking in Systems. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green
Publishing.
Slackman, Michael. 2009. Cleaning Cairo, But Taking a Livelihood. New York Times, May 24.
Accessed January 16, 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/25/world/middleeast/25oink.html
?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1390097083-db6uoB5EfTCyo3hBwkozpg.
Stix, Madeleine. 2010. Treasure Amidst Trash: Preserving Community In the Worlds Largest
Garbage City. International Center For Ethics, Justice, and Public Life: 45-53. Accessed
January 17, 2014.
http://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/pdfs/publications/Shifting_Perspectives_Sorensen_Fellowship_
and-PAX89_compilation_2010.pdf

Example 8
This has a good opening paragraph with enough detail and interest to tell the story
and it includes key metrics. This system diagram suffers from floating elements due
to the process of building it and not saving the image as a TIFF or PDF and then reinserting it back into the document as one element. However, it is unique and has
good metrics to define the system. It is not the traditional Meadows picture but it
has all the elements including feedback loops. I will note here, as with others that
took this perspective, the pigs might not be a reservoir but a converter in the
system impacting the flow handles into and out of the waste stock. You could
replace the pigs with a garbage disposal and transfer the waste stream elsewhere
or a waste to energy generator. It is still dealing with the 14 million pounds of
garbage a day. As with many of these, the author seems to fail to refer to the
graphic by name (e.g. Figure 1 shows . . . ) but does speak of the system parts and
feedback loops. To point these out in the graphic is critical for the reader to
understand the figure.
Integrated Environmental Systems W2014
Exploratoria 2 Cairo Pigs
Many people believe that the Zabaleen community of Cairo has created one
of the most efficient recycling systems in the world by recycling up to 80% of all the
waste they collect (Wikipedia 2013). Cairos Zabaleen people are a group of
between 50,000 to 70,000 Christians spread throughout Cairos urban areas whose
main income stream comes from collecting other residents trash and then selling
the recyclables as well as feeding the organic scraps to pigs (Wikipedia 2013).
Although the Zabaleen recycle approximately 55-60% more garbage then most
Western trash collecting companies, the Egyptian government has imposed stricter
laws limiting the ways in which the Zabaleen work (Wikipedia 2013). As the
Zabaleen typically sell the pigs for human consumption after they have been
fattened up from eating organic waste, the Egyptian government worried that the
H1N1 influenza breakout of 2009 could be spread by eating the Zabaleen pigs
(Wikipedia 2013). As a result the government has implemented laws restricting the
breeding and sale of the Zabaleens roughly 300,000 pigs (Wikipedia 2013).
However, these laws restricting the use of pigs by the Zabaleen has greatly
disrupted the method of trash collection and recycling that has been in place for the
last 70-80 years (Wikipedia 2013). As a result, the system of trash collecting in Cairo
has suffered major negative impacts which have reverberated throughout the
community. For example, under the Zabaleen system of trash collecting, the cloud
which is Cairos population of 14 million people created an inflow process by
consuming various food products and creating waste (Wikipedia 2013). This waste
creation allowed for the Zabaleen to collect a reservoir or stock of 6000 tons of
waste per day (Wikipedia 2013). As 60% of this food waste was organic, the next
step in the process would be for the Zabaleens pigs to consume this waste and
thus allow the Zabaleen to sustain their reservoir of 300,000 pigs (Wikipedia 2013).
Furthermore, the next step in the converter process would be to create an outflow
by selling approximately 5-15 pigs every 6 months at approximately $1.25 per kg,
resulting in a Zabaleen pig herder earning roughly $80 per swine (Wikipedia 2013).
These pigs would then be sold as food to Cairo residents (Wikipedia 2013);

ultimately this would result in the creation of a cloud of waste of about 8500 tons
per day, 30 tons of this being hazardous (Tour Egypt 2013). This process also
created multiple feedback loops in that the organic waste would once again return
to the control valve of pigs consuming the waste, and another feedback loop in that
the stock of pigs would once again become food for Cairos residents. Unfortunately,
when the Egyptian government outlawed this process of trash collection by the
Zabaleen, the negative environmental implications became obvious almost
immediately (Wikipedia 2013). With the Zabaleen no longer capable of recycling
80% (Wikipedia 2013) of the 8500 tons of waste created daily (Tour Egypt 2013),
the organic and inorganic waste began to flood the streets of Cairo (Wikipedia
2013). Ironically, these heaps of trash bred disease throughout the population which
was the whole reason that the Egyptian government banned the sale of Zabaleen
pigs in the first place (Wikipedia 2013).
As a result of the government ban on the Zabaleens ability to use pigs for
their recycling process, Cairos waste management system is in shambles (Guenard
2013). However, there is hope for this system to be repaired. As of late 2013 the
Egyptian government has created plans that I believe may solve Cairos waste issue
(Guenard 2013). For example, the Egyptian government is now aiming to give
official status to the Zabaleen's role in Cairo's waste processing. Under the joint
management of the ministry of the environment and the Zabaleen union, 44 local
waste disposal companies, using a labor force of 1,000 families, have been officially
registered (Guenard 2013). As the Zabaleen have been successful in their recycling
process for the previous 70-80 years before the crippling government restrictions on
their process (Wikipedia 2013), it seems to make logical sense that reinstating their
method of sustainable and environmentally efficient waste collection will fix the
problems they have created. Furthermore, I believe that I could make a positive
impact on a similar system by reducing the amount of waste I personally produce.
Although the Zabaleens waste collection system is extremely efficient (Wikipedia
2013); by consciously making an effort to reduce the amount of waste produced,
less waste will need to be recycled and the whole system becomes more efficient
and sustainable.

CLOUD Cairo population. Approximately 14

million people.
(Wikipedia 2013)

VALVE Food consumption and waste creation

process.
(Wikipedia 2013)

STOCK Waste collected by the Zabaleen. 6000

tons
of waste per day.
(Wikipedia 2013)

VALVE Pigs consume the collected waste.

(Wikipedia 2013)

FEEDBACK
LOOP
STOCK Zabaleen pigs. 300,000 pigs.
(Wikipedia 2013)

VALVE - Sale of the Zabaleen pigs. Approximately

$80 per pig.
2013)

(Wikipedia

FEEDBACK LOOP

SINK Waste created by the Cairo population.

Approximately 8500 tons per day.
( Tour Egypt 2013)

Figure 1. System flow of Zabaleen waste collection and recycling process. Source:
Pictures from Google Images via
http://www.aawg4.virtualacademia.com/Cairo_Univ.html,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabbaleen,
http://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2013/0704-pigs-not-just-for-bacon-anymore/,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mixed_municipal_waste.JPG. Data from Wikipedia
2013, Tour Egypt 2013.

References
Guenard, Marion. 2013. Cairo puts its faith in ragpickers to manage the citys waste
problem. The Guardian. November 19.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/cairo-ragpickers-zabaleenegypt-recycling (accessed January 16, 2014).
Meadows, Donella. 2008. Thinking in systems: A primer. 1st Ed. White River Junction,
Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
Tour Egypt. 2013. Cairo, Egypt statistics.
http://www.touregypt.net/cairo/cairostatistics.htm (accessed January 16,
2014).
Wikipedia. 2013. Zabbaleen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zabbaleen (accessed
January 16, 2014).

Example 9

Example 10

Example 11

Example 12

Example 13

Example 14

Example 15

Example 16

Example 17