It was a Saturday afternoon. Twenty-two-year-old Din Islam was collecting garbage from different houses at Sarafatganj Lane in Gandaria—his ankle covered with a polythene bag.

She earned fame, respect and prestigious awards for her outstanding achievement as the first graduate in her community.

Md Rasel, a 27-year-old peddler, regularly visits hospitals and diagnostic centres in Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area to collect recyclable medical wastes.

26 years ago, a young Md Riajuddin came to Dhaka, from Mymensingh, to make a decent living.

At around 9 AM, two massive excavators were moving wastes from a waste dumping platform at Matuail Sanitary Landfill. Deafening noise from the engines and their gigantic moving arms equipped with teethed steel bucket could not make any impression on 10-year-olds Shabuj and Shajib.