Around the world, more than 20 million people work in the informal sector known as “waste pickers.” They sort through garbage in trash cans or dumps to find recyclable materials. And, in many countries that don’t have formalized recycling systems, they play an important role in the recycling process. For the first story in our weeklong series on waste pickers, Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman reports on the dangers to health and safety for thousands of waste pickers in a giant landfill in Accra, Ghana. (This story was produced with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.)
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.