The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

A fact of modern-day life that makes people scared and frightened is that of climate change and environmental disasters; it is scary to discuss an issue where you, as a human, are the primary culprit. Nonetheless, every day we see initiatives and social enterprises which have one aim in mind: sustainable development. The idea of achieving sustainable development often requires us working together with the objective of providing a cleaner environment for future generations. But are we really working that hard, or in a hurry to save our beloved Earth? The struggle is real, and the answer to this question is a harsh reality, which involves people who are not taking these issues seriously enough. On a less sombre, and more hopeful note, we ask you to meet Hazem Ashraf.

Hazem Ashraf is the founder of Trash4Cash – a startup that aims to serve the environment. The business helps spread awareness regarding recycling and better use of our resources. Mr. Ashraf is currently a student at the University of London International Programmes at AASTMT Sheraton, majoring in finance and banking and with a minor in economics. The idea first came to him as he was packing his belongings and throwing away unnecessary items before moving to a new home with his parents.

He quickly discovered that approximately 80% of the things he wanted to dispose of were made of paper, to the extent that it seemed silly and unreasonable to simply throw it all in the bin. While asking and searching for alternatives, he found that there were tons of companies and factories that exchange trash for money. And that’s how the whole notion behind ‘Trash4Cash’ was born.

Accordingly, Hazem started saving up money for a year, and simultaneously worked on an exchange volunteer project in China that had a lot to do with recycling and saving the environment, and soon enough he launched the project with a budget of 10 thousand Egyptian pounds. The main objective behind this project is to offer a comprehensive platform which facilitates procedures related to waste disposal in a manner which would, in turn, allow for this rubbish to be recycled. Basically, consumers can call Trash4Cash to have them pick up waste and receive money in exchange. After collection, it is re-directed to an entity that filters through it. Trash4Cash then sells this filtered waste to companies and factories, which are looking to recycle and re-use it. Trash4Cash is then paid by such companies and factories for their services. As such, Trash4Cash has created a business model which not only spreads awareness and knowledge over an important and pressing issue, it has also managed to create employment opportunities, and facilitate greener production lines.

Since its launch, they have been dealing with households, individuals, corporations, and entities by offering free pickups from the customer’s doorstep, and they have been creating revenue out of what we usually consider useless and worthless.  

Find their Facebook page over here Trash4Cash and stay posted through following their Instagram account.