In Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, thousands of informal workers collect scrap metal from illegal dumpsites to survive. These workers, like Ezekiel Mabhiza, sift through hazardous waste to gather metal, earning just enough to feed their families.
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Here's how to cope with in-flight anxietyDo you eat a meal in 20 minutes or less? It might be time to slow downIn a big bill that hurts clean energy, residential solar likely to get hit fastFDA vaccine official restricted COVID vaccine approvals against the advice of agency staffRSV vaccine access expanded to some people in their 50s, according to CDC websiteHe pioneered the cellphone. It changed how people around the world talk to each other — and don’tDon't pour that pickle juice down the drain. It's a cocktail darlingCardinal Luis Pascual Dri, Argentine friar held up by Pope Francis as model confessor, dies at 98Cámara de Representantes de EEUU aprueba ley de impuestos de Trump y la envía para su firmaGobierno de EEUU parece haber relajado restricciones de privacidad en torno a la revocación de visas | Across Harare, thousands like Ezekiel Mabhiza live off scrap metal. Quietly, they are helping to sustain a cleaner environment and combat climate change. AP production by Nqobile NtshangaseWorkers load scrap metal onto a waiting truck to recycle at a collection site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Fungai Mataga, who runs a scrap metal collection center, poses at the site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Across Harare, thousands like Ezekiel Mabhiza live off scrap metal. Quietly, they are helping to sustain a cleaner environment and combat climate change. AP production by Nqobile NtshangaseWorkers load scrap metal onto a waiting truck to recycle at a collection site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Workers load scrap metal onto a waiting truck to recycle at a collection site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Fungai Mataga, who runs a scrap metal collection center, poses at the site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. Fungai Mataga, who runs a scrap metal collection center, poses at the site in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, June 8, 2025. HARARE, Zimbabwe — “Any gold in there today?” Ezekiel Mabhiza called to a man hunched over a mound of trash, hoe in hand, rummaging through one of the many illegal dumpsites that scar Zimbabwe’s capital. Mabhiza joined in. For the next several hours, he scoured the sites around Harare, using a stick or his bare hands to sift through piles of filth, from discarded diapers to broken appliances. By midday, his pushcart was full. Springs from old mattresses, car parts, tin cans — it all added up to 66 kilograms of salvaged metal. The haul earned him $8. It’s enough to feed his five children for the day, maybe even cover a utility bill in a country where the majority of people“I have given up looking for a formal job,” the 36-year-old said. “You walk the industrial areas all day and come back with nothing. This is my job now. I pay rent, my children eat and go to school.” Making steel relies heavily on burning highly polluting coal, and the industry accounts for nearly 8% of the carbon dioxide emissions that come from the energy sector and contribute to Earth’s warming, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. It takes less energy to turn scrap metal into new steel, so the pickers are helping reduce carbon emissions with their work in additionHarare generates about 1,000 tons of waste every day, most of which goes uncollected, according to the city council. People and companies frustrated with erratic collection dump trash on roadsides and open spaces. They sometimes burn it. Once-pristine neighborhoods have become polluted eyesores. Recently, the city council partnered with a green energy waste management company to improve collection amid contested accusations of corruption. But for now, informal pickers like Mabhiza remain indispensable. “It’s a dirty job, yes, but people rarely understand how important it is,” said Fungai Mataga, who runs a scrap metal collection center where Mabhiza and others sell their finds. “They are society’s cleaning crew. Every piece of metal they bring here is one less item polluting our land.” Globally, this kind of scrap metal is vital to the steel industry, accounting for roughly a third of metallic raw materials used in steel production, according to the OECD. With growing concerns over the environmental impact of mining and rising interest in circular economies, demand for recycled materials is increasing. Informal pickers are the “unsung heroes,” said Joyce Machiri, head of the mining and extractives program at the Zimbabwe Environmental Lawyers Association. “When you look at scrap, no one would actually say, ‘Wow, this a good job.’ But look at it this way, these are some of the green jobs we are talking about,” Machiri said.Many steelmakers cannot afford to invest in new, cleaner technologies. That makes scrap recycling a critical — and accessible — alternative. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that recycling steel and tin cans saves 60% to 74% of the energy required to produce them from raw materials. Although there are no official statistics on the number of scrap metal collectors in Zimbabwe due to the informal nature of their work, they are unmistakable. In Hopley, a poor township in Harare, they streamed into a dusty open lot where they sell their scrap. Some pushed carts. Others carried sacks on their heads. One woman brought a small plastic bag with just enough metal to earn a few cents to buy vegetables for dinner. Inside the yard, heaps of junk like old fridges, microwaves, cups, water heater tanks, generators and car engines were weighed on a giant old scale. Workers handed out cash and loaded the metal onto a 30-ton truck destined for a steelmaker that will buy it for between $220 and $260 a ton. Factories in the southern African country of 16 million people consume about 600,000 tons of scrap metal annually, all locally collected, said Dosman Mangisi, chief operations officer of the Zimbabwe Institute of Foundries, an association of metal casting businesses.The job of hunting scrap metal is grueling and hazardous. Hunters rise before dawn, walking kilometers to scavenge from landfills, industrial zones, homes and roadside dumps. Some sleep near illegal dumpsites, waiting for trucks that unload waste overnight to avoid arrest. “I have been lucky not to fall sick,” said Lovemore Sibanda, a security guard who collects scrap on his days off. “But I am always worried. I hope I can afford gloves one day.” Metal hunters such as Mabhiza and Sibanda have seen it all, from medical waste such as syringes and expired medicines to rotting carcasses of pets such as dogs and cats thrown away by their owners. “At first, I would lose my appetite for days after seeing things like that,” said Sibanda. “Now, I am used to it. This is my office. This is where the money is.” The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. For global health and development coverage in Africa, the AP receives financial support from the Gates Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content. 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