The lowest rung there are the recyclers. They pick up recyclable trash (kind of like the trash bin ladies do in SF but unlike SF don't leave a strewn mess). They rummage through dumpsters looking for recyclable items, take them to places which can recycle them for pennies, but it's enough to survive.
It's kind of like if you had people redeeming bottles and cans and lived in section-8 housing.
But these people are going around in third hand bikes pulling hand fashioned carts, sometimes the carts are human driven if they don't have a bike.
The big difference is there is no shame in being a recycling collector, but there is shame in being a burden to society.
There are recyclable miners in the US anywhere container redemption value is charged and reclaimable.
The rich in the US don't have any shame paying little if any taxes, buying tax loopholes, and corrupting government to get more socialism for themselves and removing it and economic fairness from everyone else.
In terms of homeless folks I’ve met in the US, they do the same.
They just use the money to buy drugs / alcohol and sleep outside because the recycling money isn’t enough for rent, but it’ll get you fucked up enough you won’t care.
It's kind of like if you had people redeeming bottles and cans and lived in section-8 housing.
But these people are going around in third hand bikes pulling hand fashioned carts, sometimes the carts are human driven if they don't have a bike.
The big difference is there is no shame in being a recycling collector, but there is shame in being a burden to society.