Hong Kong —
An elderly garbage collector in Hong Kong is hard to miss as his trolley zigzags through the busy streets, laden with piles of discarded cardboard sheets.
Many of them are over 70 and haul dozens of kilograms of cardboard for very little money to get by in one of Asia’s richest cities.
They navigate steep hills and narrow roads in the scorching sun and torrential rain. Because they do not have formal positions, they are at risk of having their trolleys and belongings confiscated by city officials.
On a good day, I might make $12, which is enough to pay for two meals.
CNN followed the “cardboard grandma,” as the worker was known, overnight and spoke to several others.
Tough working hours: Wu Saujin, 71, started hitting the streets at 2 a.m. every night to collect cardboard boxes left on the streets by businesses and restaurants. She sorts her finds into categories and takes them to a local recycling company to sell. She always gets home around 11am.
“I make a living and it’s also my hobby. If I don’t like it, it can be very tiring,” she told CNN.
There is little profit: Lai, who is in her 70s, says she earns about HK$100 (about $12) a day, barely enough to pay for both lunch and dinner.
Despite Hong Kong’s vast wealth, many elderly residents are struggling. In a 2024 report, the charity Oxfam Hong Kong estimated that 580,000 elderly people in the city were living in poverty. The government provides a small monthly allowance to the elderly, but some choose to earn more to cover the cost of living in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Lai’s income has halved in the past year. She said recycling companies used to pay the government-recommended minimum of HK$0.6 ($0.078) per kilogram, but now they are only offering HK$0.3 ($0.038). Even worse, she may get nothing if strangers or officials mistake the items she collects for road-blocking trash and throw them away.
Bad day: One afternoon, after pushing his cart from one district to another, 95-year-old Tran Gai-khan learned that his usual recycling center was no longer accepting cardboard. That day, she ended up disposing of her belongings at a nearby garbage station and left without any money. It’s a big blow, she told CNN.
“My kids are in Canada, but I don’t have any money,” she says.
Cardboard Uncle: Mr. Cheung, 80, is one of the few men who collects cardboard. He has no schedule and prefers to just pick up any cardboard he finds. Once you’ve accumulated enough, it’s a 30-minute drive to push a cart from your home to the nearest recycling center, which can be a difficult journey.
A wasteful city: Hong Kong produces around 1.51 kg of waste per person every day, far more than its Asian neighbors such as Tokyo (0.88 kg), Seoul (0.95 kg) and Taipei (1.139 kg). According to official statistics, Hong Kong only recycles 30-40% of its waste, while Taiwan and South Korea recycle more than half.
For the past 30 years, Wu has returned to the same street every night and gone through the same routine. The work is unstable and the hours are grueling, but she has become addicted to it. “It’s like smoking and gambling,” she quips. “It’s a hobby I can’t quit…I’ll do it until the day I can’t do it anymore.”
