Recycling and Waste Management in Greco-Roman Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

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Tourism Guidance Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, University of Sadat City

Abstract

Despite that Recycling is a modern approach for sustainable development, it might have been practiced in Greco-Roman Egypt. This research seeks to illustrate the origins of recycling concepts through its social economic significant in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt and argue the waste management ways followed during this period. Thus, research objectives are: identifying recycling practices in ancient times; classifying the different categories of material/archaeological evidence of recycling; clarifying the waste management ways that applied; demonstrating the motivations and techniques of papyrus and glass recycling (as two case studies); documenting papyrus and glass recycling practices from archaeological and textual evidences; discussing the new approaches in papyrus and glass recycling, through new excavations. One of the challenges in researching recycling and reusing is that it might be difficult to distinguish the two in some cases. Additionally, some materials arrive in their final product form with no information regarding their manufacturing process. To address this, the research will use a two-tiered approach; analyzing primary and secondary historical resources; and interpreting archeological and textual evidence through theoretical frameworks. Both case studies were practiced widely. While, glass recycling might have been implemented either in all this period or might have national income during Greco-Roman Egypt.    

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