Asia-Pacific

Recycling Villages Work in Unsafe Conditions

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By Andy Hsueh/Zalán Sata

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Although Vietnam only recycles about a third of its domestic plastic waste, it imports thousands of tons annually from Europe, the US, and other parts of Asia. This overload creates unsafe working conditions in the hundreds of recycling villages surrounding Hanoi, raising questions among experts and locals.

Vietnam’s Recycling Business

 

REPORTER:  

What most people throw away eventually ends up here. And as the sun rises in Hanoi, villagers around the capital head out to work among these piles of plastic.

 

REPORTER:  

In Vietnam’s recycling villages, locals peel off labels from domestic and imported plastic — a resource that forms the backbone of the local recycling trade.

 

Nguyen Xuan Nam (WASTE SORTER):  

They bring these bottles here all the way from Hai Phong Port. We don’t have many of them in Vietnam. There’s hardly any domestic supply — it’s mostly imported.

 

REPORTER:  

For locals in Xa Cau village, this work is an economic lifeline. They sort plastic every day, saving bit by bit to support their village.

 

Nguyen Thi Vui (PLASTIC SORTER):  

We don’t really have any other jobs. We just do this work and save up little by little to afford to build a house. That’s basically it — we can’t really do any other kind of business.

 

REPORTER:  

Many fast-growing economies face issues with recycling — using plastic far faster than they’re able to recycle it.

 

REPORTER:  

But recycling this trash comes at a huge cost. With little protection, workers here face health risks from air pollution and toxic chemicals that can cause cancer.

 

Hoang Thanh Vinh (UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM):  

The direct environmental issues we can see and the health problem are, you know, very direct. So wastewater directly discharges to canals. You know, air pollution control is zero in such facilities.

 

REPORTER:  

Hundreds of villages take on the recycling work — yet the country still imports hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic from abroad — from Europe, the US and across Asia.

 

REPORTER:  

This overload creates unsafe conditions for workers — and researchers say life expectancy in these villages is a full ten years shorter than the national average of around 75 years.

 

Hoang Thanh Vinh (UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM):  

We have conducted a sampling and analysis for the sediment and also the waste sample at that dumpsite, and we can see the trace of very high contamination of lead and the presence of dioxins.

 

REPORTER:  

Despite government efforts, much of the plastic that cannot be recycled is burned or dumped into empty lots — worsening pollution in and around these villages.

 

Nguyen Xuan Nam (WASTE SORTER):  

The recycling workshop smells really bad, especially the blue bottles that are concentrated and melted down to make pellets.

 

REPORTER:  

As Vietnam continues to import plastic, and locals here keep depending on this work, one question remains: Can the government protect profits and keep the work safe? Andy Hsueh and Zalán Sata for TaiwanPlus.