An electrical engineer from Kuwait is being recognized by the United Nations for her success in raising the environmental importance and economic value of recycling in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Fatemah Alzelzela has been honored as a United Nations Young Champion of the Earth, 2020 by UNEP. Fatemah Alzelzela said she had to overcome stigma around waste collection, skepticism from the business community as well as prejudice about her age and gender in order to set up her recycling company, Eco Star. Since early 2019, the company has recycled over three-and-a-half tons of plastic, 10 tons of paper and 120 tons of metal in a country where 90 percent of waste ends up in landfill sites. And those people who provide material for recycling are rewarded with plants. Fatemah Alzelzela is one of seven innovators who have been recognized as United Nations Environment Program's Young Champions of the Earth for 2020. — UN News
