In this episode, Anja calls up Dr. Jenna Jambeck and Amy Brooks from the University of Georgia on a research trip in Vietnam to learn about their research on waste management and plastic pollution. In many Asian countries, a booming economy is coupled with more and more people using throw-away items. Informal recyclers and waste pickers who have traditionally sorted the waste cannot keep up. But, like millions of people around the world, they depend on waste as a resource for their livelihoods. How can the systems be reformed without leaving the people behind? To find out more, Anja calls Dr. Sonia Maria Dias, a garbologist from Brazil, who tells her about how waste management should include the working poor.

The Plastisphere is a research and interview podcast by German freelance journalist Anja Krieger.

Transcript with links and pictures http://anjakrieger.com/plastisphere/2018/10/06/ep-3-millions-of-waste-pickers/

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Music: Dorian Roy and Blue Dot Sessions https://sessions.blue/

Cover art: Maren von Stockhausen

Thanks to: Ines Blaesius, Luisa Beck, Daniella Cheslow, the Wiego staff, and Karl Urban for editing the German version for RiffReporter https://www.riffreporter.de/plastisphere/muell-asien/