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In this large, thread-bound photo book printed on special blue-backed paper, the collaborative team WassinkLundgren takes a concerted look at the daily ritual of China’s refuse collectors, capturing 24 bottle collectors against the backdrops of Beijing and Shanghai.
They lurk around the corner in a sidestreet off Hami Lu (Shanghai): the bottle scavengers. Along with other specialists in tins, cardboard, polystyrene boxes, bits of plastic, empty oil cans, timber or scrap metal. Every day they make their way with loaded carts and bikes to the local recycling station.
This is work in its most basic sense: a means of survival. China offers only a rudimentary package of social services; millions have to devise their own way of keeping their head above water, even in China's economic miracle. But it's not really about the deprivation. Many of the scavengers are far from pathetic. These are people with an aim, an objective in perfect harmony with the highly affluent society in which they scavenge for a living.