For years the media have denounced that Romania is becoming the landfill of Europe. Yet, the institutions do not intervene, and meanwhile the European Environment Agency reports that the country ranks first in Europe for deaths caused by pollution.
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Apr 23, 2021
VIDRA, Romania In the trash-strewn slums of Sintesti, less than 10 miles from Romania’s capital, Mihai Bratu scrapes a dangerous living for his Roma family amid the foul reek of burning plastic that cloys the air day and night.
Like many in this community, for him illegally setting fire to whatever he can find that contains metal from computers to tires to electrical cables seems like his only means of survival.
“We’re selling it to people who buy metal, we are poor people … we have to work hard for a week or two to get one kilogram of metal,” 34-year-old Bratu, perched on an old wooden cart, told The Associated Press. “We are struggling to feed our kids … The rich people have the villas, look at the rich people’s palaces.”