Friday, August 18, 2017

Trash economics: surviving Venezuela’s downfall

The Guaire River, a stinking open sewer that runs through the heart of Caracas, is where Augusto Rengil makes his living, alongside groups of other young, jobless men.

There may be nothing alive in the nauseating brown water except bacteria and microbes, but “you’ll be surprised by how many jewels go down the drain and end in the sewer,” says Rengil.

Wading knee-deep, he sieves the swirling water with a net and dumps the mess he finds on the bank to be picked through with the blade of a knife for anything of value .... https://www.irinnews.org