In the present study, the main purpose is the qualitative study on garbage collection in Tehran city. It has been done by qualitative research method. Semi-structured interview and purposeful sampling techniques were used in data collection. To do this, 15 people were interviewed and the sample size in the present study was determined based on theoretical saturation. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Theme analysis was performed at 4 levels of primary, main, central and core themes. A total of 184 initial themes were extracted from all interviews. In the main coding stage, the following 9 main themes were merged. Escape from poverty in the origin and the inevitable choice of inferiority, society's view to garbage collectors, and high stress, strengthening the cycle of academic reluctance and illiteracy, physical and mental torment, unknown horizon and confusion of the Khojies, legal ambiguity and customary definitions and contracts, complaints from relevant institutions, the entry of the mafia and the formation of rent and corruption. Finally, these themes fall into two categories of social harmfulness of recycling and institutional exclusion and illegallity of the status of garbage collectors in the second distrect in the form of the core theme of the structure of socially harmful and institutionally illegal, waste phenomenon explained..