When we arrived in Morocco In November 2021 we felt, or hoped, that the problem of rubbish littering the countryside had improved since our last visit – we even spotted the occasional litter pickers out an about in the towns.
However the longer we stayed in Morocco the more we realised that their concept of litter disposal was very different from Europe’s. The Moroccan method of waste disposal was the gravity method – rubbish would be cast over a cliff, down an embankment, into a quarry or well or any available hole in the ground. Even the trees lining the city streets had rubbish in the space at the bottom of the trunk and, if you looked upwards whilst walking along the beach, you would very likely spot a colourful cascade of rubbish thrown from the town above.
We were saddened to see so much detritus at La Plage Blanche and shocked at the amount of plastic waste lying in the shallows of the flamingo lagoon. Whilst out walking on the beach we passed a spot where earlier we had noticed a visitor on the beach. The man had gone but at the spot where he had been sitting was an empty cigarette packet, several cigarette stubs and an empty carton of juice.
On the other hand, in Morocco you rarely saw any abandoned cars, bicycles or white goods. These items were too valuable and we often passed busy workshops full of old machines being repaired.
