Anselm Ibenj cherishes his ‘Abu Salim’ role
It is rare to see a foreigner speaking Arabic in Jordanian dialect fluently. Anselm Ibenj not only speaks the local language but also uses a Muslim name, Abu Salem. Ibenj, like all most Germans, has Caucasian skin and blue eyes but prefers being identified as part of Jordanian society.
"Sometimes I violate traffic rules but police forgive this European for fluently expressing himself in the local accent," he says with a naughty smile.
He is more Jordanian than many indigenous ones. For instance, in the absence of an efficient waste disposal system, Abu Salem is an unquestionable national icon of recycling waste.
From an 8-meter room crammed with nylon bags of waste in Ain Al-Basha, 20 kilometers from Jordanian capital Amman, Abu Salem helps keep the vicinity clean while giving new life to discarded materials.
Abu Salem came here in 2007 to study integrated management of water resources in the University of Jordan. After obtaining master's degree, he convinced the British embassy to help recycle waste on the streets.
Courtesy a TV channel host, Anselm Ibenj got his Arabic name. He admits that the local name really helps him in his work and social life.
Somewhere in Jordan, he crossed path with Wajeeh Arifj, a like-minded man and founder of the Green. Both teamed up well. Abu Salem now heads recycling and marketing departments for three branches of the company: Ain Al-Basha, the Dead Sea and Aqaba.
With a committed staff of 80, he deals with major hotels and companies for sending their garbage for recycling. The waste generally comprises different types of plastics, paper, bottled water and alcoholic beverages.
Abu Salem explains, "We agree with these companies to get a certain amount per day of waste they have to recycle." He gets 15-20 tons of waste per day from three areas.
In Jordan, 1.4 million tons of household waste, 165,000 tons industrial and 1.6 million tons agricultural trash in produced annually; suggest statistics of the Amman Municipality, responsible for keeping clean streets of the Jordanian capital.
Despite official and public interest in recycling garbage, many projects failed due to lack of committed community leaders. The Jordanian environmental agency depends on dedicated personal efforts of youth like Abu Salem.
When the waste arrives in Abu Salem’s facility, the first process is separation of plastic, metal, glass and paper. While sorting out things from waste lying on a large table, he regrets on mindlessly expanding culture of consumerism.
"Many times we find brand new or hardly used items like shampoos, soaps or other materials from hotels,” observes Abu Salem, adding that most of such products are on regular purchase list of such companies.
Meanwhile, he extracts a biscuit pack from the pile. "These biscuits are clean and fresh, but I do not know why they throw it in the garbage,” he complains, pointing to lack of civic sense.
For Abu Salem and Wajeeh Arifj, health of staff is no minor issue at all. Everyone wears apron, mask and special gloves during the sorting process.
Each ton of waste is fetches 65 Jordanian dinars (63.5 Euro or $92) after being sold to Saudi factories for recycling.
Abu Salem finds it ironic that Saudi factories are buying waste from Jordan despite paying heavy tax but the country’s own investors don’t find recycling profitable and interesting enough.
He also runs a training program at the company headquarters for Iraqi and Palestinian refugees to develop skills of carpenter, blacksmith, plumber etc. “We have 70 trainees in each course, lasting for three months under the supervision of some 15 trainers,” the German national explains.
He says proudly, "This section of the company is very important, it aims to offer training to people who really need to master the skill to enable them to get a job".
Abu Salem may sound workaholic yet he is popular amongst his teammates.
"Despite opposition from my family which does not find it socially acceptable profession, I am extremely happy working here," says Hamza Ali who has been employed here for eight months.
Ali believes that the job has taught me to become environment-friendly.
Radwan Khalil, a company guard, replies with a pleasant smile, “I am very comfortable here, and my monthly salary is good and enough for me."
Anselm Ibenj is a full time activist, keeping one eyes on the environment for example, the other on widening class differences in Jordanian society.
“There is no cooperation even between people who collect waste for recycling,” he says.
Although there are many affluent areas in Jordan, with specialized containers to sort out waste, Abu Salem regrets that there is little focus on reduction of consumption. He advocates a consorted and elaborate awareness campaign to highlight significance of consuming little as well the urgency of recycling discarded materials.
For vacations, this German takes refuge in downtown in Amman with his Arab friends, especially like-minded activist Jordanians. "If I keep meeting Germans here too what is the value of my time in Jordan!"
Abu Salem escorts his European guests to ‘downtown’ for its simplicity and originality.
"There you meet real people who are poor but happy," he remarks.
He defines himself as "a very simple person" who, for instance, would buy his household items from Jura market, the cheapest one in Amman. He believes that there is no need to buy the best clothing, food and furniture as they will go to waste in the end.
"They will come to us again to sort and recycle!" he remarks with laughter.
His work in garbage removal and recycling has impressed many officials, who otherwise cared little about environment or waste disposal. Now this 28-year-old German attends meetings with Princess Basma binte Ali, who desires to champion the cause of environment in her homeland.
Recognition is slowly but steadily coming his way.
The Jordanian newspaper, Al-Dastoor, portrays him as a role model.
"It is important to have more Jordanians like Abu Salem with creative thinking to discover economic and environmental opportunities in Jordan," reads the Adastoor daily.
The good news is that Anselm Ibenj enjoys the life of Abu Salem a bit too much.
"I may never return to Germany as I wish to continue my work in improving the environment here," he hopes.
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