. >> the district of myeongdong, one of seoul's main shopping areas, is teeming with customers almost every evening. south korean teenagers in particular are keen to keep up with the latest fashions and trends. while the masses shop till they drop, others are getting to work on the night shift. seoul's waste collectors handle with the trash produced by the city's consumerist society. an estimated 20,000 people living in the asian megacity live or earn extra income from recycling what others throw away. they concentrate on the entertainment and businesspdist. the refuse picked up in most of the residential areas is now conscientiously separated and recycled. >> the law allows the trash collectors to pick up plastic packaging, waste paper and scrap metal. the problem is that they also collect other kinds of refuse, especially electrical scrap. they know metal brings them good money. but the rest is not disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, because refrigerators and other appliances often contain harmful substances. >> seoul's households throw away about 1000 tons of elec