This book presents the findings of a Department for International Development (DFID) funded project. It has been written for policy-makers and professional staff of urban government, development agencies and non-government organizations in low-income countries. The book aims to help improve the poor practices of municipal solid waste management that prevail in many low-income countries - a subject that has received comparatively little attention to other aspects of infrastructure such as water supply and transport. It is a complex subject embracing waste collection, transfer, haulage and disposal and its impacts are wide, including for example, effects on environmental health, municipal finance and management, waste reuse, and informal sector employment.

Waste pickers in Dhaka make their living by selling recyclable items collected from dumped waste. Most are children living on the streets or in slums where they have little access to infrastructure, a low status in society and an uncertain future. This book is based on a period of fieldwork in Dhaka which explored their livelihoods using the DFID Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA). It presents much of the livelihood information gathered, and discusses the effectiveness of the SLA in this urban context. The book also raises a number of methodological issues relating to research with mostly illiterate, underprivileged children.

These field notes present the findings of a focused research project into the 'actual processes of change in low-income countries' carried out as a part of the Knowledge and Research Programme (KAR) of the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. The project (R7143) aims to build capacities of government and non-government organisations in primary collection of solid waste. These field notes are written for organisations and individuals who in one way or another support the development of solid waste systems in low-income countries.