Elderly Scavengers Haunt Hong Kong, World's Richest City
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Cardboard scavengers are haunting Hong Kong. The presence of elderly waste pickers has become a common sight in one of the world’s wealthiest cities.
Many of them, aged 70 or older, struggle to haul dozens of kilograms of cardboard for meagre wages to survive in one of Asia’s richest cities. On a good day, they may earn US$12 (Rp212,736), barely enough for two meals.
One scavenger, 71-year-old Wu Sau-jing, takes to the streets at 2am each night to collect cardboard discarded by businesses and restaurants. She sorts her findings into categories before taking them to local recycling companies for sale, typically returning home by 11am.
“I maintain this livelihood and it’s also a hobby. If you don’t like it, it can be quite exhausting,” Sau-jing told CNN International on Monday, 25 May 2026.
Similar struggles face Lai, a 70s-year-old who has been scavenging cardboard for 20 years. His earnings have halved in the past year, with recycling companies now offering just US$0.038 (Rp674) per kilogram, down from the government-recommended minimum of US$0.078 (Rp1,383). Worse still, he sometimes earns nothing when foreigners or government officials discard his collected items, mistaking them for obstructive waste.
Despite Hong Kong’s immense wealth, many elderly residents struggle to make ends meet. Oxfam Hong Kong’s 2024 report estimated 580,000 seniors living in poverty in the city.
The local government provides small monthly allowances for elderly citizens, but many still need additional income to cover living costs in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Chan Ngai-kan, 95, faced a devastating blow when a recycling depot he regularly visited stopped accepting cardboard due to policy changes. Forced to dump his haul and leave empty-handed, he said: “My children are in Canada and I have no money.”
Alongside women, Cheung, 80, is one of the few men collecting cardboard on the streets. He has no fixed schedule and picks up cardboard as he finds it. When he has enough, he pushes his trolley for 30 minutes to the nearest recycling centre, often navigating steep roads to make ends meet.
Hong Kong generates around 1.51kg of waste per capita daily, significantly higher than neighbouring Asian cities such as Tokyo (0.88kg), Seoul (0.95kg), and Taipei (1.139kg). Official data shows only 30-40% of waste is recycled, compared to over 50% in Taiwan and South Korea.
For Sau-jing, her nightly efforts are about saving the environment and surviving. Over three decades, she has repeated the same routine each night, describing the dangerous and exhausting work as an addiction: “It’s like smoking and gambling. It’s a habit you can’t break… I’ll keep doing it until I can’t anymore,” she joked.