BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Sept. 26, 2007 — Recycling may not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering Afghanistan, but one company here sees recycling as a way to create jobs and help an environment ravaged by 30 years of war. The company, Kuhan Dazh, and the U.S. military marked the first day of a new business relationship, Sept. 24, 2007, with an agreement to help reduce recyclable trash at Bagram Airfield.
I was interested in this opportunity because it will help the local economy by creating jobs and it helps the environment. Aaron Fariad
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“I was interested in this opportunity because it will help the local economy by creating jobs and it helps the environment,” said Aaron Fariad, general manager for Kuhan Dazh. “We are going to process materials to reuse and be sold to the local economy, hopefully reducing the prices of plastics, aluminums and other materials.” The BAF landfill goes through 2,000 meters of trash per day measured in large metal trash containers then reduces that trash to 90 meters of ash, said Clifford Trim, chief of services for Kellogg, Brown and Root. “We’re burning 35,000 plastic water bottles and 2,000 cans a day, so we’re not putting those pollutants in the air by recycling,” Trim said. Although the project has started modestly with a four-man crew, Fariad said he is thankful the military presented the chance and that he thinks this project will lead to the creation of more much-needed jobs in the area. Fariad was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and moved to Toronto, Canada, when he was a child. He returned to visit relatives and wanted to do something to help his country when he saw the challenges it faced. The idea for the recycling arrangement originated when the |