‘A broken system full of criminality and death’: the podcast lifting the lid on what happens to the UK’s rubbish

<p>Turkey’s recycling centres treat vast amounts of the UK’s waste – and rely on refugees who work in conditions so unsafe that hundreds have died. A new podcast uncovers the sinister side of what happens when Brits throw things away</p><p>On his way to a remote industrial zone at the edge of Istanbul, Adnan Khan compares it to something out of Mad Max. Packs of wild dogs roam around desolate wastelands; toxic chemicals spill out into the street, with corrugated metal sheets and “slapdash factories” scattered around. “It’s like a shantytown,” he says.</p><p>However, once he sets foot inside some of these factories, he reaches for a different cinematic comparison. This time he’s thinking of the torture-horror film <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/oct/01/horror">Saw</a>, as he witnesses Afghan refugees working and living in conditions that he says fit the UN definition of modern-day slavery.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/sep/23/boy-wasted-podcast-uk-rubbish-turkey-recycling-centres">Continue reading...</a>