hello and welcome to focus europe, my name is liz shoo. on average, every european produces around 500 kilograms of waste per year. but what actually happens to it once we discard it? some of it is given a new life. but what is not recycled is incinerated or ends up in landfills - in the worst case, unsorted. in some countries in eastern and southern europe, this type of disposal is still widespread. romania is ranked among the eu's worst member states

for waste recycling. a lot of of garbage and recyclable material is thrown together before it even arrives at the landfill. this violates the standards of the european union, which has given money to romania for proper waste management. this includes the construction of a modern landfill in klooj-napoca. but our reporter discovered that millions in eu funding has failed to clean up the problem. a romanian landfill site, full of unsorted waste -- financed with money from the european union. this was supposed to be a modern, environmentally friendly waste dump to replace the older, illegal landfill site near the city of cluj-napoca, that had been an eyesore for decades. the new landfill opened after much delay. but not much seems to have improved. unsorted garbage is still dumped here, nothing is recycled - a harmful practice, that's illegal in the eu.

we want to find out what went wrong here. in a residential area, we look at the start of the waste chain. the first impression is positive: there are different bins for different waste. you guys recycle your waste? sometimes. because sometimes it doesn't make sense because the same car is taking the garbage. it's not actually recycling. it's one car to pick everything. and then it happens before our very eyes. the sign on the truck reads: today we collect paper. but they also take everything else - from all the bins. is this an isolated case? or is it systemic?

we meet sandor korosfoy, who works in the waste industry. he's also an activist and keeps track of what cluj's waste collectors are doing. so, what's happening now? again it's like different types of waste right? yes, yes. i think they are mixing all the bins, yes. unfortunately. romania recycles just 14 percent of its municipal waste, compared to the eu average of 49 percent . right now recyclables are more expensive to collect than mixed waste. so there's no incentive to collect them separately.

with sandor korosfoy and three other environmental activists, i watch drone footage of the new waste plant. the activists are concerned that the site is filling up faster than it should - with unsorted waste. which is illegal in the eu. this is not a momentary mistake. this is structural. as you can see from the area that is covered with non-treated, non-sorted garbage. most of the material they don't treat, don't sort, just dump it there. it's so obvious. from 2014 to 2020, the eu spent 318 million euros subsidizing waste management in romania, 40 million in cluj alone. we want to speak with the people responsible for waste collection

here - but neither the waste company nor the romanian ministry of european investments reply to our inquiry. the local waste management association does, however, tell us in writing that they'll impose penalties if there are deficiencies. the district council here is responsible for implementing the eu project. we met with the spokesperson. we observed that trash is still not being recycled and not collected separately in cluj and this is one of the main goals of european waste management standards. are you as cluj county not concerned about this? there may be some isolated problems. but i tell you as a citizen that it is definitely not a systematic problem. no one appears willing to acknowledge the waste problem here. so we head to brussels, to ask what the eu commission -- which

financed much of romania's waste disposal system - is doing about this. the commission does not manage projects. we do not follow each separate project. we have, under cohesion policy, in the previous period, 1.5 million projects or more than 1.5 million projects funded by cohesion policy. and these are all managed by the member states. back in romania, no one seems to feel responsible - much to the dismay of istvan szakats. as long as europe is happy with pdfs -- and they are and they have been and they will be - romania will have no problem with producing more nice-looking pdfs. we couldn't find out who is to blame for chaos in cluj. but maybe that's the root of the problem - in the tangle of european projects, everyone wants a piece of the pie. but it seems no one wants to take full responsibility - for the waste, or for where the money is going.

what europe needs concerning waste is a rethink, says alice tesi, - and she can back up her words with actions. her family business in the fashion powerhouse of italy is committed to recycling. and she is not alone there. in tuscany around the city of prato, many textile companies create new from old - with prato quickly becoming the 'paris' of sustainable fashion. this used clothing bin could be in almost any european city - but no matter where it's located, chances are the clothing will end up in prato, italy - the world's textile recycling capital. around 150 of the 7 thousand textile companies here are involved in recycling. used clothes from germany, austria and switzerland end up at salvatore rangino's warehouse.

this is where we separate what comes in. we separate t-shirts, pants, children's clothing, sweaters and jackets according to season - winter or summer. he re-sells two-thirds of the clothing, mostly to africa. alice tesi, who works next door, takes the last third. her family business has been turning used clothes into yarn and fabric for four generations. hi! how's it going? great! did you get good material? yeah, it's all pretty good. great. then the magic begins. in the end the discarded scraps will become new yarn and wool. it's a complex process, that starts here. our goal is to restore the yarn to its original color. we separate the colors and then our machine turns the rags into a kind of fiber pulp.

that way we restore the original color without chemical dyes. chemical dyes are only one of the problems in today's textile industry. worldwide, 20 percent of water pollution comes from dying and finishing fabrics. that's another reason why recycling used clothing is so important. the material then goes to our washing plant, where it's shredded and turned back into raw material. her company processes up to 25 tons of fabric per day. the final product are these fluffy fibers. the material has been dried and now has the moisture content of the original fiber. now it is ready to be packaged and sold or spun into yarn. the recycling process continues in a nearby factory - the fibers are turned into yarn, and then fabric.

every european buys on average 26 kilos of texiles per year. most eventually ends up as landfill. for alice, it's a terrible waste. we're trying to do our small part here. of course, if the fashion industry followed our lead, we could accomplish so much more. it's hard to believe that only one percent of all used clothing in the world is recycled. and 15 percent of that one percent is recycled here in prato. yes, our contribution here in prato's textile district is important. alice's father is president of italy's textile recycling association. but he says recycled fabrics can't be the only solution. at the moment, we can't satisfy global industrial and consumer demand with 100 percent recycled materials. what we have to do now is make it clear how important it is to

move more and more in the direction of recycling. that also means encouraging young designers. like students from a fashion academy who use recycled textiles from prato for their creations. in central prato, the rifo start-up is already selling recycled designer fashion around the world. niccolò cipriani's goal is to bring together artisnal methods, sustainable fashion and the principles of a circular economy. we're seeing that more and more people are interested in these issues and are willing to buy less clothing, but spend more on quality. it's the opposite of fast fashion, which is what we had until just a few years ago. that was all about low prices, and buying new clothes more often.

people like niccolò and alice are showing that sustainable fashion is more than just a dream. more places like prato, all over the world, can help make it a reality. delia from latin america came to spain with a dream: sending sufficient money back home to support her children. but her dream turned into a nightmare. she now works as an 'interna' in madrid. internas are workers who take care of the household, and live with their employers like au pairs. often, they are without any papers, such as a residence permit. which makes them even more vulnerable. the spanish government has introduced stricter laws. but despite that people like delia continue to be abused. six days a week, sixteen hours a day. delia's filmed herself at work for us with her cell phone. in this apartment in madrid, spain, she takes care of

the household and looks after the children. she sleeps here too. but the 57-year-old doesn't want to show us her room. it is her only piece of privacy. they put me in a two by three meter basement room. i don't have a window. it's demeaning. and it's sad to have to live like this. even though you take care of everything in the apartment, round the clock, you do your best, but still end up in a situation like this. they're called "internas" because they live in the household. they're usually from latin america or the philippines. they do the groceries, mind the children, take care of the elderly - like here in the upscale neighbourhoods of madrid. you do everything, cooking, cleaning, everything. we're on call 24 hours a day. you start six thirty and then finish nine o'clock,

in the evening. at this domestic workers association, karla girón is the chairperson, but she's not above doing the cleaning. she too has worked as an interna in the past. now with the association, she supports the workers' rights. because many don't even get the designated minimum wage for their work: 1080 euros a month. migrants without residency rights are often shamelessly exploited. this is modern slavery. they don't pay you the legal minimum. your rights get trampled on just because you don't have papers. and then when you complain, the employer says: why should i pay you by the book when you don't even have papers? delia often comes by the association. seventeen years ago, she came to spain from paraguay to earn

money for her family. her biggest burden is the separation from her children. her son was ten at the time, her daughter fifteen. i left my children in paraguay and now i'm here for other people's children. it hurts. i've missed a lot of things: my daughter's wedding, the birth of my four grandchildren, my father's death, all the things that keep a family together. delia gets help from the association psychologist. ana camargo thinks the extreme living situation of the internas is dangerous: there can be frustration and depression, even the loss of one's own identity. the boundaries between your private and working life are blurred.

your privacy and personal development are determined by others. spanish authorities want to end the precarious situation; they've imposed contracts with minimum rest periods. a new decree now grants unemployment benefits to domestic workers. but in reality, domestic work is hard to monitor. family was the reason delia left paraguay to work as an interna. seventeen years later, her own children are practically strangers to her. i wouldn't do it again. i'd stay in my country and somehow take care of my children there. but at least i'd be with them. today i have no hope of winning back their love. delia is still proud that her work has enabled her children to get an education. but it's been a high price to pay.

more than 20 years ago, portugal decriminalized the consumption of all types of drugs. in the coastal city of porto and other parts of the country, it's mainly those who deal in drugs who have to face legal consequences. while experts hail this step as a role model for other countries, porto residents like cristiano silva have a different view. he's unhappy about how addicts are getting high in his neighborhood. often with the police seemingly powerless. charred tin foil, discarded bits of syringes and blood are all evidence of drug use in the streets and parks of porto. cristiano silva sees it every day. he lives in portugal's second largest city, in a middle-class neighborhood. it's also a hangout for drug addicts. it's disrespectful to the rest of society.

they're using openly in the street. if you don't like it, you have to cross the street. and if you say it's not okay, they get aggressive. portugal decriminalized all narcotics in 2001, no matter how dangerous. anyone found in possession of less than ten days supply now just gets a fine. only dealers go to jail. we're on the road with police trade-unionist hugo moreira. this is a drug-dealing area. back there is their meeting point. it's better to avoid it. they can get hostile. dealing is still prohibited. most drug trades are made behind closed doors. while outdoor consumption isn't allowed, it rarely has legal consequences.

since we're no longer allowed to arrest consumers, the problem is we come across more and more situations like this. the police have had their hands tied. those who get caught are offered therapy. and drug centers like this one are supposed to draw users off the streets. but this is the only one in all of porto. joao comes here daily to smoke a cocktail of heroin and cocaine, under supervision. we're human beings, sick, addicted to drugs. we need a lot of help. psychologist diana castro is proud of portugal's drug law. she says it's a way to entice those affected out of the shadows. after all, there are fewer drug deaths now.

when drug use is a crime, addicts stay hidden, off the social radar; they don't accept treatment offers simply because they're viewed as criminals, not as people in need of help. but there's clearly a lack of treatment services. critics fear for public safety. it's an untenable state of affairs for patricia rapazote. she's the district mayor of ramalde, one of porto's problem neighborhoods. this feeling of fear, of turning around and looking to see if someone's behind you, it's unacceptable. we need more police and more patrols on the streets. the police union are also calling for tougher measures. we're doing our job, doing our rounds, yes.

but if there are no consequences? i think we need a facility that takes users and forces them to accept treatment - a facility with enough resources and professionals to care for them. after more than twenty years of liberal drug policies, it is time to act, says resident cristiano silva. caring for addicts is all very well, but not at the expense of protecting the population. it all leads to a sense that they can do what they like with impunity. it's a pretty dangerous spiral. things settled down a bit in cristiano's neighborhood after a big police operation. but some of the drug scene just moved to another part of town, something that clearly doesn't solve porto's problem. a single post on social media has the power to change lives.

it happened to sascha shunyak who was born with down's syndrome. an online post sparked a wave of solidarity and breathed new life into the cafe where he works. it's in the bosnian town of tuzla. the cafe is unique: it employs people with disabilities. and they are devoted to their jobs. so when word spread it was facing closure, the community rallied. his job means everything to sasa sunjak. he works almost every day at the "klub zmajevo srce, or "dragon's heart club" café. and sasa has the heart of a fighter: he doesn't give up, even when the going gets tough. it makes me so happy, i'm full of joy! i love working here and i'll always love it! i could work here 24 hours without a break.

his colleague boris kusumovi can't speak, but would definitely second that. he even wanted to put a bed in the cafe so he could spend the night there. the two of them are fortunate. the café project is the only one of its kind in bosnia. you can see on their faces, and the faces of their families, that the café's become like a second home for them. their parents say that they've never been happier. the project was actually on the brink of failure. in the first few months, hardly any guests came. the café next door was full to the brim, but not so the dragon's heart. apart from edima efendi-doini.

the writer has known sasa since childhood. she visits him in the café almost every day. one saturday a few weeks ago, she was the only guest, and omer took a photo of her. i didn't know omer took my picture. we were sitting there, chatting, and he said he was going to post that the club was closing at the end of the month. i said, oh come on, it doesn't have to come to that! and he said, we can't survive this financially! after our post, everything changed! first the regional media reported on it, then it went nationwide. suddenly we were full from morning till night! the first two, three weeks you couldn't get a table here. it was a miracle, they say.

since then, the café's been doing great. the guests pile on the praise. i'm telling you, it's one of the best cafes! neat, tidy, almost pedantically clean! and the service is top-class! i was quite surprised at first. i didn't expect it, but it makes no difference! i think they even serve me and the others with a bit more respect and friendliness than you'd see elsewhere. similar projects are set to open in other locations. the dragon's heart café is just a beginning - but a promising one. well, that wraps up today's focus on europe. thank you so much for watching. remember to follow us on social media or check out or homepage for more reports. my name is liz shoo, see you next time!

10/26/23 10/26/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> fuel and diesel at al-aqsa hospital are starting to run out. if they do, patients will die and a hospitable turn into a mass grave because the operating rooms will not be functional. amy: the death toll in gaza has topped 7000 as israel's bombardment continues for a 20th day amid a deepening humanitarian catastrophe.