“The underside of globalisation”
“Albania, waste land”
Anne-Charlotte Gourraud and Nicolas Grimard
Wild Angle Production


00:35:08-00:36:05
[Marc] I am called Marc,

00:37:05-00:39:12
I come from Pukë,

00:40:01-00:41:00
I am 22 years old.

00:43:02-00:46:00
At 15 years old I came down from the mountains

00:46:14-00:47:14
 to work here in Durres.

00:48:20-00:50:03
It is hard work,

00:50:17-00:53:24
I do it to meet the needs of my family.

00:55:09-00:57:17
This is not a normal situation.

00:58:01-01:00:21
For me, a normal situation would have been in school

01:01:08-01:03:05
or university, and studying contents

01:03:14-01:06:09
instead of studying bins.

01:06:15-01:15:12
[Narrator] Marc is a rag-picker of Durres.
In Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, there are thousands like him surviving by salvaging trash.

01:26:00-01:32:15
[Narrator] Since the fall of communism in 1991, Albania has gradually sunk under a pile of garbage.


01:39:10-01:53:09
[Narrator] Huge dumps are invading a country barely larger than Britain.
Despite the struggles of this country to manage its own waste, it has relied on managing that of its European neighbours for economic development.

01:57:00-02:06:03
[Narrator] In recent years, nearly 700,000 tonnes of household and industrial waste have been imported for destruction or recycling.

02:07:10-02:10:05
[Narrator] Is Albania becoming the dustbin of Europe?

02:17:07-02:19:09
“Come, we will warm up a bit”

02:21:00-02:27:15
[Narrator] 3 am in the open dump of Durres. Marc is one of the first to arrive.

02:28:17-02:30:13
[Marc] We wait for the garbage trucks,

02:31:02-02:33:00
They won’t arrive late.

02:33:07-03:35:20
Every day, 160-170 people come here.

02:36:07-02:38:07
We do not have any other hope,

02:38:21-02:40:22
The state does not look after us.

02:41:15-02:44:15
It is our everyday work.

02:46:20-03:00:07
[Narrator]  Marc, like most pickers, is from the Catholic minority.
Left out of the Communist regime, the “Guègues”, former peasants from the mountains of the North, are now fleeing the depression of those agricultural regions.

03:02:14-03:03:20
[Background] Come on everyone, let’s go!

03:04:01-03:05:08
We go to fill our bags.


03:07:03-03:08:23
Come! Come!

03:08:24-03:10:17
There! There!

03:11:09-03:13:02
Move over!

03:15:00-03:19:09
[Narrator] Every night, scavengers fight for waste from the country’s second city.

03:25:08-03:27:05
[Background] Don’t start, you!

03:27:06-03:29:15
“Are you jealous or what?”

03:31:13-03:33:15
[Marc] What I’m looking for is cardboard,

03:34:05-03:35:11
it’s to sell!

 03:35:12-03:37:14
It should be said that it is with this that we eat.

03:40:00-03:49:18
[Narrator] Marc specializes in cardboard - and the cleaner the cardboard, the better the price. Others specialise in plastic.

03:54:00-03:57:09
[Narrator] In Albania, sorting is the job of the poorest.

04:04:00-04:21:17
[Narrator] On the outskirts of Durres, the Michtula neighbourhood is just waking up.
A dozen Roma families live in these makeshift shelters.
For a long time, the Roma were the only recyclers in Albania.
Now, Renato and his father can no longer work in the city dump.

04:22:16-04:27:04
[Renato’s father]There is a fight for waste now.

04:29:02-04:31:21
It is useless for us to go there.

04:33:07-04:36:10
We are no longer alone,

04:36:18-04:39:21
there are lots of collectors.

04:40:00-04:42:14
We find fewer things than before.

04:43:05-04:45:21
[Renato]The white also pick waste!

04:46:08-04:49:19
[Renato’s father] Yes, because they also have no work!

04:51:03-04:54:07
When there’s no more bread, you must go to work.

04:56:00-04:59:22
[Narrator] Northern Albania has become the land of landfill.

05:00:17-05:01:09
[Renato] Go.

05:02:04-05:03:03
Come!

05:04:00-05:11:11
[Narrator] Now, Renato collects waste out of the city garbage.
In his neighbourhood, everyone lives on informal recycling.

05:14:20-05:16:12
[Woman] Roma, Roma, Roma,

05:16:13-05:17:23
look how they live!  

05:18:09-05:20:10
We do not have anything to wear,

05:20:21-05:22:18
We are naked like God made us.

05:24:07-05:25:24
Look at all this piss, all this shit,

05:26:01-05:27:14
You call this living?


05:29:15-05:43:05
[Narrator] In a country where 14% of the population lives on less than 1 euro per day, the Roma are the most affected by poverty.
They number between 100 and 150,000, the largest Albanian minority.

05:48:14-05:50:04
[Renato] Pay attention.

05:50:18-05:52:01
Do not break the machine!

05:55:05-05:58:19
[Narrator] 17 years old Renato never went to school.

06:04:20-06:14:00
[Narrator] He has worked in waste since he was 8, the age of the youngsters he took with him today.
More than half of Albanian Roma are illiterate.

06:15:12-06:18:08
[Renato] It is not normal that the children work.

06:20:10-06:22:20
But good, as their parents have no work.

06:23:14-06:25:12
They also come and pick up the garbage.

06:26:24-06:29:03
We are going to stop by the rubbish bins over there,  

06:31:04-06:33:11
as we might find something.

06:37:18-06:41:14
[Narrator] Three times a day, Renato tours the containers of Durres.

06:43:15-06:47:11
[Narrator] This morning, the group were will only find some scraps of plastic.

06:53:11-06:57:08
[Renato] Scrap metal and copper are worth more money.

06:58:03-07:00:20
This here, is worth nothing.

07:01:15-07:03:”3
But we take what we can get, we don’t have a choice.

07:04:14-07:06:13
For us, the Roma, it is our only work,

07:07:04-07:09:17
Because nobody will hire us,  

07:09:18-07:11:16
no-one likes us.

07:13:20-07:17:17
[Narrator] Roma are six times more affected by unemployment than other Albanians.

07:22:20-07:35:18
[Narrator] After 2 hours of work, Renato returns to Michtula neighbourhood.
He is able to off load todays haul with a trader outside the Roma settlement.
Renato normally sells his harvest for a few leks per day.

07:36:05-07:37:12
Look here.

07:40:19-07:42:13
2 kilos.

07:43:11-07:46:01
50 leks (0.35 euros)

07:46:20 – 07:53:05
[Narrator] 35 euro cents for 2 pounds of plastic. This morning Renato earns barely enough to buy bread.

07:58:05-08:16:09
[Narrator] 5 kilometres away, among the trash piles of Durres, garbage trucks work until early in the morning.
From 3 o’clock in the morning until midday, Marc continues his collection.
Competition among scavengers has led to a heavier workload.

08:19:13-08:21:12
[Marc] A few years back, things were alright.

08:21:22-08:23:24
But it isn’t the same anymore.

08:24:18-08:27:03
There are other scrap collectors in the city

08:28:19-08:33:00
So by the time you get to them, the bins are half empty.

08:34:20-08:36:07
We are holding on

08:36:08-08:37:20
For as long as we can!

08:38:13-08:41:12
We await those who govern us to use their heads,

08:41:21-08:44:07
And ask themselves what is becoming of their people.

08:48:20-08:56:19
[Narrator] Working in landfills is illegal in Albania. But with no alternative for the poor, the government lets them in.

09:01:22-09:05:04
[Marc] It’s raining and the cardboard is wet.

09:06:14-09:10:11
I am afraid it will only provide half of the money.

09:17:15-09:24:13
[Narrator] Marc sells his card for 20 euros per tonne. With his old truck bought on credit, it’s hard to make ends meet.

09:25:21-09:28:11
With this truck, I transport the rag-pickers, and the goods,

09:30:12-09:33:13
but often costs are more important

09:33:14-09:35:12
than the profit.

09:36:20-09:48:17
[Narrator] At this point, he earns 100 euros per month. This is half the average wage in Albania.
All his goods are sold to the largest recycler of paper in the region.

09:52:18-09:54:07
[Marc] Hello, how are you?

09:54:08-09:55:05
[Bardhyl] Okay.

09:55:10-09:56:21
[Marc] Thank you for your business

09:57:03-09:58:07
[Bardhyl] How’s the job?

10:00:02-10:00:21
[Marc] OK, OK.

10:01:18-10:04:10
[Bardhyl] Listen, try to collect cardboard a little cleaner.

10:04:13-10:05:07
[Marc] OK.

10:06:05 – 10:18:08
[Narrator] Bardhyl Baltheza, the director of Edipack, works with hundreds of small collectors in Durres.
It is not enough. He needs more organised collection to run his business.

10:20:09-10:23:18
[Bardhyl] In Albania, there is 5 times more paper than our factory would need.

10:25:02-10:28:12
But this paper is lost unnecessarily,

10:28:13-10:30:12
and it cannot be helped.

10:30:13-10:32:18
We can only collect this today.

10:32:19-10:34:13
It is heavy on the recycling plant.

10:36:20-10:55:07
[Narrator] The entrepreneur is a pioneer in recycling. In 2004, he founded his cardboard factory with the help of European and American funds. It's fuelled in part with the paper waste of neighbouring countries.
But in 2013, a new government banned all imports.

11:01:14-11:05:24
[Bardhyl] We cannot use our 2000 tons of recycling capacity.

11:06:19-11:10:01
We had trade relations with our neighbours:

11:10:10-11:14:03
Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro.

11:14:14-11:17:06
We purchased paper from these countries,

11:17:16-11:20:13
but after the decision of the government

11:20:14-11:22:24
on the repeal of these imports,

11:23:00-11:25:06
it is no longer possible.

11:25:07-11:27:16
And we are limited to work at 25% of our capacity.

11:28:05-11:37:12
[Narrator] A significant revenue loss for the contractor.
Until last year, Albanian recyclers legally imported dustbins from European countries.

11:37:20-11:54:07
[Narrator] In the past, household and industrial waste was officially allowed to enter Albania.
Plastic, cardboard, scrap metal, batteries… The recycling industry boomed, with
Businesses flourishing along the country’s borders.

11:56:06-11:58:18
[Narrator] But some began to worry.

11:59:00-12:44:06
[Mihallaq Qirjo - In English]: Recycling recently was mainly for recycling imported waste, might have been totally uncontrolled, and information, up to let’s say 5 years ago was, was, very scattered. So you wouldn’t really have how much waste, or raw material for recycling would come in. Everything was coming in from all countries, but mainly from European countries. They were saying there were around 570 different type of substances or materials coming in Albania, without any list or check. So it was a real open border.

12:44:21-13:06:18
[Narrator] The introduction of hazardous substances into the country sounded an alarm.
Hospital waste from the Greek neighbours, electric batteries from Italy.
In 2004, France would have also sent 588 tons of toxic metal residues to Albania.
In all, dozens of incidents of toxic waste imports are documented by the UN.

13:07:00-13:13:01
[Narrator] Fear gripped the country. Albania does not have the necessary infrastructure for their treatment.

13:15:20-13:25:15
[Narrator] The end of imports became the object of parliamentary elections in June 2013. Edi Rama, leader of the Albanian Socialist Party, promised to end it.

13:27:08-13:31:00
[Narrator] Once elected, it's the first order of his government.

13:32:14-13:35:00
[Edi Rama] The first and best thing that we could do

13:35:01-13:37:19
for the destroyed Albania we inherit

13:37:20-13:42:00
is the prohibition of importation of any type of waste.

13:44:22-13:47:20
Waste will not come into Albania as long as Albania

13:48:09-13:50:16
is not able to collect,

13:51:06-13:53:04
sort and recycle

13:54:04-13:58:02
the scrap that is in the country.

14:02:10-14:18:11
[Narrator] Since then, Bardhyl Balteza and small recyclers have struggled to save their businesses, even by working around the law.
On the day of our interview, Edipack received a paper delivery from Austria.
According to him, what comes from abroad is not waste, but raw material.

14:19:09-14:22:06
[Bardhyl] We only import new paper that you cannot find here.

14:22:13-14:24:03
The rest of it comes from here.

14:24:11-14:28:24
[Journalist] But behind you, that is the supply from Austria this morning?

14:29:10-14:33:07
 [Bardhyl] No, no, all we see here is Albanian.

14:34:03-14:45:17
[Narrator] That day, it was impossible to distinguish Austrian paper from Albanian waste.
Edipack continues to import raw materials from Italy, Austria and Turkey.

14:46:10-14:57:08
[Narrator] Waste or raw materials, the legal status of these imports is uncertain.
Does a lack of control allow recyclers to continue to run their factories with foreign waste?

15:00:05-15:05:21
[Narrator] At the headquarters of the Albanian government, the Prime Minister Edi Rama ensures all imports are blocked.

15:12:15-15:39:00
[Edi Rama] It is simple. We decided to stop all imports because the country could not guarantee appropriate control and could not be protected from toxic waste which has to cross the border, in a kind of collusion between crime and politics.

15:39:01-15:41:20
[Journalist] Which means have you implemented?

15:42:15-15:46:14
[Rama] We stop that. There are no more people that import.

15:48:06-15:50:09
[Journalist] You have also prohibited scrap metal?

15:50:10-15:51:24
[Rama] Prohibition on everything.

15:54:05-15:57: 05
[Journalist] You may have created difficulties for customs?

15:57:06-16:04:00
[Rama] No trouble at all in that area.

16:09:16-16:21:18
[Narrator] 200 kilometers from the Italian coast is the Port of Durres - the largest in Albania. 1 million tons of cargo go through here each year - a showcase for the opening of the countries borders.

16:26:14-16:30:00
[Narrator] Arben Xhemali is deputy director of the port authorities.

16:33:01-16:36:01
[Arben – in English] There is the terminal office, and the customs office.

16:37:05-16:40:01
[Journalist – in English] And how many are there? The customs officer?

16:40:03-16:48:01
[Arben – in Englsih] In the terminal? Depends on the shift, or depends on how they decide it would be in terminal. Could be 3, 5 person per shift.

16:49:20-17:01:15
[Narrator] Two kiosks act as customs in the largest container terminal in the country, but access to the customs floor is strictly prohibited.

17:04:06-17:08:18
[Arben – in French] I told them to wait, so he does not film.

17:09:18-17:14:10
How many containers are denied each year?

17:14:21-17:17:01
Do we have the statistics?

17:17:24-17:19:07
[Customs] Deny what?

17:19:16-17:22:09
[Arben] It is to know if you are checking the quantities,

17:22:10-17:25:01
If the goods are what they are meant to be.

17:25:02-17:26:08
It is good what you are doing here.

17:28:14-17:30:11
[Customs] It can happen, but it is rare.

17:30:19-17:31:21
[Arben] Alright, there is only a little bit,

17:31:23-17:33:04
that is what I have told them.

17:35:20-17:43:18
[Narrator] It is impossible to know how many containers are checked each day. Detection equipment, such as scanners, seems non-existent.

17:45:09-17:48:00
[Arben – in English] They have a scanner, they have a scanner.

17:48:02-17:48:18
[Journalist – in Englsih] Where is it?

17:51:14-18:04:21
[Narrator] There is no scanner in the terminal, and very few checks of the goods.
How do they make sure that imported materials contain no waste or hazardous substances?
Who actually controls the Albanian state in the port of Durres?

18:08:1519:19:18
[Narrator] The terminal was partially privatised - sold off to Kurum, a Turkish company.
One of the biggest investors in the country, as well as running the port the company is also a steel giant.

18:22:00-18:30:01
[Narrator] Every day, the company receives several metal containers. The shipments head to Elbasan, 80 kilometers away.

18:36:05-18:56:00
[Narrator] In the centre of the country, the city seems frozen in time.
In the late 60s, the communist leader Enver Hojxa chose it as home for a giant metalworks.
There are no natural resources to justify its installation in this remote valley, but the dictator feared external attacks.

18:58:10-19:07:13
[Narrator] Abandoned after the fall of communism, the site was privatised in 1999 and the facilities were transferred to the Turkish giant, Kurum.

19:10:15-19:16:02
[Narrator] Today it is the largest employer in the city. More than 600 Albanian workers work there.

19:17:15-19:27:10
[Narrator] Installed on 220,000 square meters, the plant recycles and treats metal and associated waste, to produce girders for the construction industry.

19:31:10-19:35:17
[Narrator] 70% of the steel in the country is made in Elbasan.

19:42:03-19:47:13
[Narrator] The director of production Bünyamin Diricanli opened the doors to the recycling plant.

19:47:13-20:01:21
[Bünyamin – in English] All our activity starts from scrap. We are collecting scrap, sorting scrap, treating scrap, eliminating dust, dirt, glass and some parts inside the scrap. And then to steel plant.

20:03:15-20:11:04
[Narrator] Wrecks, car wrecks, radiators; every day, nearly 1500 tons of scrap metal arrive at the factory.

20:16:20-20:34:17
[Bünyamin – in Englsih] It’s coming, especially in Albania, domestic market, from Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia and sometimes Italy, sometimes. Anywhere. Ukraine, maybe. And Russia sometimes.



20:36:15-20:48:12
[Narrator] The Prime Minister insists that imports of scrap metal into the country are banned. But Bünyamin Diricanli does not seem aware of this law.

20:48:20-21:01:00
[Bünyamin – in English]I don’t know exactly this new law. We are importing normally, like in 2013. I don’t know the details of the law.

21:01:20-21:16:24
[Narrator] In fact, scrap imports have instead been reclassified from waste to raw material.
It's one way to allow Kurum to continue producing Albanian steel: freedom to bring dangerous waste into the plant.  

21:17:20-21:32:02
[Narrator] Without controls, foreign weapons and munitions also enter Albania and are recycled in the same way as traditional scrap.
The subject is taboo, but on hidden camera, workmen reveal the risks they incur.

21:33:03-21:36:05
[Workman] It’s coming from Kosovo, Macedonia,

21:37:01-21:38:24
Serbia, the Balkans,

21:39:22-21:43:06
It’s the scrap metal of war! Ammunition from the 90s!

21:43:16-21:46:23
 It’s dangerous, sometimes there are explosions.

21:47:08-21:50:23
In October, one person died.

21:51:15-21:53:23
The explosive was hidden in a tube.

21:54:15-21:56:09
The worker did not know.

21:56:10-21:58:13
He handled it, and it exploded.

22:00:02-22:22:18
[Narrator] The worker who died was 23 years old. Accidents like this occur frequently in the factory.
4 months earlier, another worker died when handling a grenade.
The dismantling and recycling of ammunition and arms, which is extremely dangerous, must be subject to special treatment according to international law.

22:25:07-22:58:12
[Mihallaq Qirjo-in English] The custom control, again, comes into the picture. It’s not… it’s not properly enforcing the law. The quality check of the products which are imported, it’s, it’s, missing. People also perceive it like the scrap, and with no harm, so people perceive the import of the scrap like safe enough, because it’s just metal, it will be melted and reformed into the factory.

22:58:20-23:09:09
[Narrator] The lack of controls at the border and the factory is a concern for locals.
And since arriving in the region Kurum, has increased its productivity tenfold.

23:10:02-23:20:21
[Narrator] The plant discharges 40,000 tonnes of dust over the city each year.
In Elbasan, atmospheric pollution is three times higher than the European average.

23:25:02-23:32:07
[Narrator] At the regional hospital, Dr Edmond Laho is one of the few to publicly voice worries about the increase of disease in patients.

23:37:23-23:39:11
[Edmond] You can lay it down.

23:40:10-23:45:19
[Narrator] It turns out the economic heart of the region is poison for the 100,000 inhabitants of Elbasan.

 23:47:09-23:49:08
[Edmond] The children of Elbasan are most affected

23:49:19-23:51:24
by lung diseases, by asthma.

23:52:19-23:54:22
Not only children, but also adolescents

23:55:16-23:57:24
and adults who have respiratory diseases

23:58:14-24:00:09
due to polluted air.

24:02:05-24:12:02
[Narrator] According to the statistics of Dr. Laho, cancer of the respiratory and digestive systems is almost twice as high as the national average in Elbasan.

24:15:05-24:19:24
[Narrator] Toxic fumes from the Kurum chimneys are the main cause.

24:22:10-24:32:21
[Narrator] This Sunday, Dr Laho is visiting the people most affected by this pollution.
Bradashesh, a Roma community, lives a few meters from the refinery.

24:42:04-24:43:11
[Mussa] Look, look.

24:43:21-24:45:00
Look at the dust.

24:45:05-24:46:06
You see it hanging.

24:47:16-24:49:01
We cannot even remove it.

24:49:08-24:52:02
Nothing grows here,

24:52:16-24:55:17
Not even the tomatoes, because of the poison.

24:56:21-24:58:19
[Journalist] Because of Karum?

24:59:00-25:00:15
[Mussa] Yes, Karum, Karum.

25:01:13-25:10:10
[Narrator] Mussa Shqiri was born and grew up in the neighbourhood. Like many local men, Bradashesh works in the refinery, and has done for 30 years.

25:13:07-25:16:05
[Mussa] Look, look at the gas fumes that escape!

25:17:14-25:20:12
You see behind the chimney?

25:21:14-25:24:17
The filters do not work.

25:25:14-25:27:11
The oven is under there.


25:28:11-25:31:05
It is where it melts the steel.

25:31:20-25:41:01
[Narrator] In 2008, the plant of Kurum was forced to install filters to contain the toxic dust. But for the doctor and the people of the town, the filters do not work.

25:42:11-25:47:06
[Edmond] Now their strategy is to work at night.

25:47:18-25:50:06
[Mussa] And when they work at night? They do not use filters.

25:50:24-25:53:11
[Edmond] It is a health problem, but also a social problem.

25:56:14-26:00:01
On one side, the community has been here for a long time,

26:00:02-26:03:00
and needs work.

26:03:20-26:07:08
But on the other side, it cannot afford the sacrifice.

26:08:19-26:11:14
The filters need to work

26:11:15-26:15:00
and the rules to be observed to cause the least possible pollution.

26:17:20-26:32:00
[Narrator] Mussa sacrificed his health to the metalworks.
Inhalation of toxic heavy metal dust has altered his lungs. With severe respiratory and heart failure, he had to leave the factory after 7 years.

26:37:03-26:38:10
[Mussa] Sometimes I think,

26:38:11-26:41:05
 “If only I had all of my life before me”,

26:41:06-26:42:17
but this is what state I am in now.

26:42:22-26:45:03
[Journalist] And you would like to have another job?

26:45:08-26:47:11
[Mussa] Yes of course, but I am not able to work

26:47:12-26:49:11
in this complex in the middle of the poison.

26:50:06-26:51:19
 It does no good to have regrets!

26:51:21-26:54:04
There are twelve mouths to feed!

26:54:05-26:56:02
Who else is there to look after them?

26:57:00-27:03:06
[Narrator] Today the family of Mussa lives on his disability pension of 140 euros per month.

27:07:00-27:18:16
[Narrator] In a final twist of fate, the Albanian government has approved the construction of a landfill, a few meters away from the Bradashesh district. The site is a landfill of toxic residues from the metalworks.

27:27:10-27:32:24
[Narrator] At nightfall, the whole Roma community of Durres gather around the fire.

27:38:00-27:42:06
[Narrator] Renato, the young recycler of the suburbs, sets the rhythm.

27:44:03-27:48:10
[Renato] We party to make the difficult day bearable.

27:48:24-27:53:06
We do this every night.

27:53:20-27:56:16
[Renato’s father] We have music in the blood

27:57:05-27:59:06
[sings] You are my soul,

28:00:09-28:02:00
you are my spirit.

28:03:11-28:05:15
You are my heart,


28:06:24-28:09:04
oh how I love you.

28:13:11-28:20:15
[Narrator] Tonight, Renato is singing to his wife.
He has been married to Elona for 4 months, and they are expecting a child.

28:22:21-28:24:11
[sings] I have taken a long path

28:25:01-28:27:19
to find you in France,

28:28:10-28:32:15
because my heart can’t forget.”

28:39:07-28:41:12
[Renato] Me, I would like to leave,

28:42:03-28:44:00
find a job like all the others.

28:45:05-28:47:00
Albania, it is finished.

28:47:15-28:49:19
There is no work.

28:50:05-28:51:12
When my wife gives birth,

28:52:12-28:56:09
where do we go with our child?”

29:01:00-29:08:18
[Narrator] The Albanian population among Europe's youngest. Most, like Renato and his wife, dream of leaving the country.

29:10:00-29:21:07
[Narrator] The young Albanian democracy is about to knock on the gates of the European Union once more. To date, the reforms undertaken by the country have not been enough to convince the Member States accept their application.