Recycled Lives

The aim of this project, Recycled Lives, is to spotlight a phenomena which has boomed in European cities as a result of the economic recession: scrap metal dealers. Small-scale scrap metal collection is taking place throughout the world, and in around this activity there is a combination of aspects like immigration, unemployment, environmental issues and precarious work, often carried out by minors or pensioners. The economic recession has made hundreds of people turn to recycling as a source of income, or as an alternative to make ends meet, in a paradoxical scenario: the lower the production, the less it is built and the less activity there is in the industrial sector, therefore more families end up scavenging for scrap metal in the struggle for day-to-day survival. Some of them trudge while they pull their carts, others ride their beat-up bikes, others drive their cars around with a full boot, and the lucky few even have vans bursting at the seams with scrap metal. On their own, in couples or small groups, they all share the same everyday goal: to sell what little has been collected and continue the battle against the recession.