 After the takeover of the municipal waste collection, the three private companies, two from Spain and one from Italy, that were awarded with contracts to dispose of Cairo's trash were only required to recycled 20 percent of the trash that they collect.The rest of the trash that foreign companies do not recycle are placed into new landfills.The efficiency and environmental-friendliness of the Zabbaleen "waste collection and recycling system received major world recognition and approval at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992."