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Gaza women turn waste into everyday items

The Needle and Thread project sees women reusing items which would normally go to landfill to make goods which are in need around the house

June 9, 2023 at 4:47 pm

A group of Palestinian women in the besieged Gaza Strip has been processing various waste fabrics and clothes to produce reusable items as part of a recycling project.

Textile and leather waste have been transformed as part of the ‘Needle and Thread’ project.

Head of the project, Inas El-Gul, an agriculture engineer, said: “The idea started in a rural area, where the amount of waste was very high. I was wondering why the waste was so high, so I asked the ladies why they were dumping all this. They said they didn’t know what to do with it. So, I took them and trained them, and when they were trained, they started producing and enjoyed the work a lot.”

The project was based on the recycling of industrial wastes such as second-hand clothes, fabric, leather, wood, tyres and iron.

“It began in 2020. Because I saw a lot of waste, I embarked on the challenge. They were conducting a study on waste and its capabilities. I found that the largest volume of waste is fabrics and leather from factories,” she said.

El-Gul believes that they can benefit the environment by taking waste and moving it away from landfill.

“The main goal of the project is to clean the environment. The second goal is to provide a livelihood for needy women and teach them handmade crafts so that they can enter the market,” she added.

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