VietNamNet Bridge – The uncontrolled development of waste recycling, which has caused pollution, has turned Xa Cau Hamlet in Quang Phu Cau Commune in the suburb district of Ung Hoa into the largest “garbage village” in Hanoi.

In the past, Xa Cau Hamlet’s residents earned a living by making incense and tilling the fields. However, now they recycle garbage, which is more profitable.

Every day, Xa Cau’s residents enter the inner city and nearby areas, collecting waste – plastic bottles, old clothes and plastic bags - carrying it to their home village, where they recycle it to resell for profit.

There are three business groups in Xa Cau Hamlet. The first are petty merchants, who do not have much capital. They collect waste, then classify it for reselling.

The second group comprises workshops which collect waste, classify it and then chop plastics into small pieces before reselling.

The third group have machines to mold the pieces into plastics blocks. The hardest plastic parts which cannot be chopped into small pieces will be thrown away.

The waste processing in Xa Cau Hamlet, according to scientists, generates four kinds of hazardous waste.

First is the waste water discharged, after cleaning the materials, which enters directly into ponds and lakes, or is absorbed in the ground.

Second, the “substandard” plastic parts, which cannot be used for the recycling, cloth and plastic bags, are thrown into the canals and fields, where they will not decompose for hundreds of years.

Third, the waste from bottles and bags made of chemicals seriously pollutes the soil and underground water.

Fourth, the black smoke from the recycling workshops generated by the burning of the plastics seriously pollutes the air.

The garbage village which produces hazardous waste has existed for the last 10 years in front of local authorities. No one can explain why it has not been eliminated.

Le Van Diu, chair of the commune people’s committee, said no household in the locality has been given a license to trade scrap materials, and thus no one has to pay an environmental protection fee.

When asked why the local authorities have not done anything to treat the pollution, Diu said there are no officials in charge of environmental matters, so it is very difficult to settle the problem.

The Quang Phu Cau commune people’s committee once planned to gather the recycling shops in one area for better management.

However, the idea was never implemented because there was no budget for the plan.

Thien Nhien