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Guatemala - Turning Trash into Treasure

September 3, 2012

Old tires, glass and plastic bottles - much of what lands on the garbage dump could actually be used to build homes. In the small Guatemalan town of San Juan, the NGO "Long Way Home" builds energy self-sufficient schools based on a revolutionary recycling concept.

https://p.dw.com/p/1630J

The town has long been grappling with a waste management problem. Makeshift garbage dumps are scattered through the town, and waste regularly ends up in the groundwater, thereby spreading disease. An American NGO called "Long Way Home" run by Matt Paneitz aims to solve a number of problems at once - boosting young people's opportunities on the one hand and protecting the environment on the other.