Beijing discards recyclers

Tens of thousands of migrant workers scour Beijing for recyclable scraps.

But they won't be trading any trash this August as they are being pushed out of town as Beijing gears up to present a sanitized modern city to millions of Olympic visitors.

Liu, a trash collector, said this was his only source of income.

SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin with English ) MR. LIU, REFUSE COLLECTOR AND TRADER FROM HENAN PROVINCE, SAYING:

"Of course I don't want to leave Beijing, because here I can make around 30 to 50 yuan a day, if I go home I can't make anything."

The estimated 170,000 unofficial recyclers make a meagre living collecting and selling anything recyclable, from plastic drinks bottles to cardboard.

The vast majority are migrants from rural areas of provinces like Henan and Sichuan.

This army recycles a fourth of Beijing's trash.

According to Beijing Municipal Administration Commission, who advises the city government, the migrants present a host of problems for the coming green Olympics.

Their recent survey shows that more than 70 percent of the collectors have contracted infectious diseases and more than half have criminal records..

Wang Weiping advises the government.

SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin with English translation) WANG WEIPING, EXPERT FROM BEIJING URBAN ADMINISTRATION COMMISSION, SAYING:

"It's more about social order and safety, which includes preventing the spread of infectious diseases."

The government has already closed down scores of markets where trash used to be traded, cutting off the migrants' incomes.

But Wang expects the recyclers to be back after the games.

In Beijing, I'm Kitty Bu, reporting for Reuters.