Minh Khai or Khoai Village in Nhu Quynh Town, Van Lam District, looks like a dumping ground as local people have been collecting and recycling scraps for over the past two decades. Every day, a large amount of plastic waste is brought to the village.

Waste recycling has brought the main income source for many local households. The job has also helped many people to become billionaires, so, Khoai is often called as the village of scrap billionaires.

It is common to see piles of scrap, mainly plastic waste, in the village. People are plagued by dust and the smell of plastic.

Every corner of the village is always busy with vehicles transporting scrap.

Waste is processed into plastic beads to be sold inside and outside the country. The village also makes different products from the recycling, including bags, plastic cups and tables and chairs. 

Despite technology upgrades, the village is still witnessing serious pollution as many scrap recycling facilities continuously operate. To date, hundreds of households and workshops in the village specialise in recycling work.

Wastewater from the recycling is directly discharged into rivers and canals, worsening the contamination.

People in Khoai Village buy scrap from various localities, mostly in the north. They have even imported waste from Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea despite being banned.

Buying plastic beads and scrap from South Korea or Japan is easy via the Khoai villagers’ website. The scrap is mainly sourced from South Korean and Japanese electronic and garment firms and industrial parks.

Each kilo of plastic beads is sold for VND15,000-25,000. An owner of a recycling workshop said that plastic beads are made from different kinds of scrap.

Local residents also buy old plastic bags for recycling. The bags are usually washed before being recycled.

Nguyen Thi Vien, who works at a plastic bead-producing facility in the village, said that she faced headaches and dizziness due to the pollution. So, she moved to the packaging unit which meant a lower income.

More people are getting richer thanks to the recycling work but the villages are suffering more severe pollution.

According to Nguyen Vuong Hong, vice chairman of Nhu Quynh Town, scrap recycling has helped contribute to improved living standards for lots of households in Khoai Village over the past years, but he admitted it had badly impacted the environment.

Many experts from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment have visited the village to seek measures for the pollution. But so far the situation has not considerably improved.

Authorities in Hung Yen Province plan to relocate scrap recycling facilities to industrial parks, including those in Khoai Village, out of residential areas to mitigate pollution.

Source: Dtinews