In 1983, Bob wrote a preliminary Proposal for the collection and recycling of the municipal waste of 4 of the 7 districts of the Governorate of Cairo, Egypt.
Bobs father had developed a unique shredder and separation system, potentially applicable for either municipal and/or industrial waste, Bob had met someone in Saudi Arabia in 1977 with key contacts in Cairo, and thus the vision for the project was born. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances which were largely out of Bob’s and/or his father’s control at that time, the project failed to come to fruition.
Up to the time that the project was cancelled, however, it was well designed and developed. In this instance, had matters gone forward, it also could, and hopefully would have been improved more than a bit.
Some aspects of the project were inclusive of the following:
1. Collection of all municipal waste and transport to applicable transfer stations
2. Separation of the collected waste by steel, aluminum, plastics, glass, friables and compostable materials
3. De-toxifying local sewage sludge, mixing it in with the compostable material, then composting this mix
4. Sales and/or other utilization of the items in 2-3 above, inclusive of use of the composted materials in Egyptian agriculture, 'making the desert bloom.'
Needless to say, had this project been successful, it would have been on the cutting edge of the industry, and a more than likely newsworthy item, to say the least.
Financing for the project would have probably come at least partially from American USAID, United States Agency for International Development.
