A Moroccan nonprofit organization reuses waste plastic, paper, and cards

The chairs, bags, and other items on show were all made from recycled plastic, cardboard, or paper waste.

The charity KOUN, whose name means “be” in Arabic, manufactured each and every one of the goods.

The thousands of tonnes of rubbish that are now not recycled in Morocco are to be reduced, according to the organizers.

Co-manager of KOUN Nada Diouri observes: “When we walk in the streets, there is trash strewn on the ground all over. There are folks who are getting sicker and sicker from respiratory conditions.

“We notice that the amount of plastic waste in our oceans is always rising. More and more fish are being found with plastic bags or straws inside of them.

The crew sources waste from up to five businesses and collects and recycles it.

They gather between 100 and 200 kg of trash each day, 60 percent of it being plastic.

Additionally, the initiative is educational.

Abbas Kanouni, supervisor of KOUN, says: “We strive to persuade the young people who join the center here that the plastic garbage you see in nature and that you throw away and that has no value, we can transform it here into new materials.

This surprises them, which inspires them to produce more artistic and gorgeous goods.

The shredded paper passes via a unique machine in a different workshop.

Water is used to hold it there for a few hours until it becomes a paste, which is then dried.

At KOUN, Assia Rekkas is employed.

“We can make a variety of other things from this paper, like business cards, boxes, and notebooks, in one to two days,” she claims.

According to the Green Carpet Association, Moroccans produce over a million tons of plastic garbage annually.

Only 7% (70,000 tons) of this garbage gets recycled, and 33% is left to decompose in the environment.

A law prohibiting the use, sale, export, import, and manufacture of plastic bags went into effect in 2016.

But activists assert that single-use plastics continue to be the root of the issue.