Population Reports' Q&As

Meeting the Urban Challenge

Making Urban Areas Work

What is an example of a "low-tech" solution to recycling urban waste that poorer countries can afford?

In many poor countries unable to afford high-tech solutions, armies of "rag pickers" sort through garbage for items they can resell or recycle. Such an informal system not only provides a public service-one that many municipalities cannot afford-but it also provides employment and income (44). In Mumbai, for instance, an association of 2,000 women collects and recycles wastes from households and municipal dumps around the city.

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