Lebanon’s poorest scavenge through trash to survive

By LUJAIN JO
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — Even trash has become a commodity fought over in the streets in Lebanon, mired in one of the world’s worst financial crises in modern history. In Beirut, the desperately poor scavenge the city’s waste for scrap to sell. Some tag trash cans with graffiti to mark territory and beat those who encroach. Thieves prey on scavengers, stealing what they collect. Even better-off families now sell their own recyclables as the trash can be traded for U.S. dollars rather than the country’s collapsing currency. That’s left the poor even poorer and fearful for their futures.