Local resident Dercio Cuna stands tall overlooking his backyard – the Huléne Dump Site. Covering about 17 hectares in the outskirts of Maputo City, Mozambique’s capital of roughly 1.5 million people, this landfill is home to several hundred people who live and work here. Dercio has been here for 15 years.
Dercio earns a living by scouring the dump for scrap metals, especially copper and aluminum. Here, he has found some old bed springs, which he will take to the dusty road which runs behind the site. He and his team of seven other men take turns guarding their stockpile until private dealers arrive to buy it, which could take anywhere between a few hours and several days.
As Maputo’s only official dumping ground, this decomposing dog is not the strangest thing you might find at Huléne. According to press reports, 259 rounds of live ammunition were found buried amid household garbage last year, including machine gun magazines and anti-aircraft munitions. With uncontrolled fires common here, it’s lucky the firearms didn’t cause disaster.
Children outnumber adults here, who also sift through the rubble collecting scraps to sell. But football beats work any day – these two have taken a quick break to just be kids for a minute.
Not all garbage is equal. This truck has rolled in from one of Maputo’s growing number of luxury hotels, creating a flurry of excitement as people scramble to get the best loot.
This bundle of plastic bottles will fetch 5 meticais per kilo (around US$0.17). Collecting plastic bags is even less lucrative, earning 2.5 meticais per kilo. Dercio is luckier – his scrap metals will get him 20 meticais per kilo (US$0.67), and much more if he finds copper.
Chinese traders, who arrive at Huléne at 7am each morning, have been collecting plastics from here since 2010. In this shot women are weighing their bundles at a scale. It can be a place of tension here, where the sellers always want to receive more and the buyers always want to pay less.
With several hundred tonnes of garbage added each day, the dump is now spilling into the densely populated neighbourhoods that surround it – creating a trash playground for children. These boys heave old tires up the banks of the dump and race them down the hill.
The massive, mist-enshrined hills behind this youngster continuously bellow toxic fumes, causing lung infections and other health complications. Just 24 hours here can make your throat feel raw.
This is Dercio’s home, which he shares with his wife and four children.
The ever-looming dumpsite is just moments from Dercio’s home. This shot is through his front door. Booming explosions, collapsing garbage and crackling fire echo through the night as the site remains constantly ablaze.
Dercio combs his son’s hair before school. During the height of the rainy season from December through March, rain water passes through the dump and then sits stagnant at the foot of Dercio’s front door, reaching about knee level. Cholera outbreaks are common here and everyone in Dercio’s family has contracted malaria at least once.
Despite its many complications, Dercio says the main problem about living here is “I can’t make enough money to properly support my family.” Although the Huléne Dump Site was due to be closed this year, a lack of state resources and the low priority of waste management renders this date unlikely.
Dercio earns a living by scouring the dump for scrap metals, especially copper and aluminum. Here, he has found some old bed springs, which he will take to the dusty road which runs behind the site. He and his team of seven other men take turns guarding their stockpile until private dealers arrive to buy it, which could take anywhere between a few hours and several days.
As Maputo’s only official dumping ground, this decomposing dog is not the strangest thing you might find at Huléne. According to press reports, 259 rounds of live ammunition were found buried amid household garbage last year, including machine gun magazines and anti-aircraft munitions. With uncontrolled fires common here, it’s lucky the firearms didn’t cause disaster.
Children outnumber adults here, who also sift through the rubble collecting scraps to sell. But football beats work any day – these two have taken a quick break to just be kids for a minute.
Not all garbage is equal. This truck has rolled in from one of Maputo’s growing number of luxury hotels, creating a flurry of excitement as people scramble to get the best loot.
This bundle of plastic bottles will fetch 5 meticais per kilo (around US$0.17). Collecting plastic bags is even less lucrative, earning 2.5 meticais per kilo. Dercio is luckier – his scrap metals will get him 20 meticais per kilo (US$0.67), and much more if he finds copper.
Chinese traders, who arrive at Huléne at 7am each morning, have been collecting plastics from here since 2010. In this shot women are weighing their bundles at a scale. It can be a place of tension here, where the sellers always want to receive more and the buyers always want to pay less.
With several hundred tonnes of garbage added each day, the dump is now spilling into the densely populated neighbourhoods that surround it – creating a trash playground for children. These boys heave old tires up the banks of the dump and race them down the hill.
The massive, mist-enshrined hills behind this youngster continuously bellow toxic fumes, causing lung infections and other health complications. Just 24 hours here can make your throat feel raw.
This is Dercio’s home, which he shares with his wife and four children.
The ever-looming dumpsite is just moments from Dercio’s home. This shot is through his front door. Booming explosions, collapsing garbage and crackling fire echo through the night as the site remains constantly ablaze.
Dercio combs his son’s hair before school. During the height of the rainy season from December through March, rain water passes through the dump and then sits stagnant at the foot of Dercio’s front door, reaching about knee level. Cholera outbreaks are common here and everyone in Dercio’s family has contracted malaria at least once.
Despite its many complications, Dercio says the main problem about living here is “I can’t make enough money to properly support my family.” Although the Huléne Dump Site was due to be closed this year, a lack of state resources and the low priority of waste management renders this date unlikely.
