Brazil's biggest dump, known as Gramacho, is due to close on 1 June after 34 years of accumulating much of the rubbish generated in Rio de Janeiro.

Activity is winding down but some 9,000 tonnes of rubbish used to be sent to the dump every day. Trash pickers known as "catadores" wait for the lorries to go through their contents.

The landfill spreads over 130 hectares (321 acres) on the banks of Rio's Guanabara Bay. The dump, located on unstable ground, is full to capacity and environmental officials fear that rubbish could seep into and contaminate the waters of the bay.

The dump's closure has long been discussed, and repeatedly postponed, but now it is set to happen just three weeks before Rio+20, the UN summit on sustainable development.

Environmentalists have welcomed the measure, but it means the end of a way of life for the 1,700 "catadores" who earn money from the things they find in the dump.

They go through the rubbish looking for recyclable materials such as bottles, cans or plastic and can earn up to $45 (£29) a day with things they re-sell.