Minh Khai village (also known as Khoai village) has become a huge “trash bin” of sorts over the years because people here recycle used plastic items for a living.
The village is located at Nhu Quynh, Van Lam, Hung Yen and is faced with serious pollution problems.
Villagers get used to the scene of trucks approaching, filled with trash to be piled up in the village. The size of the piles is astonishing.
Backwards plastic recycling methods are destroying the environment. Water becomes black, thick, sticky and carries a pungent odor. Thick smoke fills the sky from trash being burned.
Rivers and roads of Khoai Village are littered with trash
“We have recycled plastic to earn a living for many years. But there used to be only a few factories and the environment wasn't so badly polluted. However, now there are many factories and they try to buy all kinds of trash and recycle using methods that seriously damage the environment,” said resident Nguyen Van Hung.
After separating the trash, factories will burn all that cannot be recycled any way that they can. It takes about 10 days to burn through trash and the whole village becomes covered in smoke. There are trash burnings like these daily.
Huge clouds of smoke from trash burning
“If we do not burn the unrecycled trash, it may cause more pollution. We know it’s harmful to people's, health but we cannot stop because this is how we earn a living,.” said Nguyen Van H, owner of a recycling factory.
At present there are a lot of villas and multi-story houses in the village but the children here play with rubbish while breathing in harmful smoke and dust and are forced to drink polluted water.
Waste elimination methods are taking a toll on the environment
When we visited the village, we came to know over 50 workers of the Viet Nhat Mechanic Private Company that could not go to work because they cannot breathe at the factory due to so much polluted air and smoke.
“We have to cover our noses daily when we are at work. We have to struggle just to breathe. All trees and pets around the factory are dead,” said Tran Thi H, HR manager of Viet Nhat Mechanic Private Company. “A lot of our products are damaged due to the harmful smoke. We have reported this to local authorities and are waiting for their action.”
“We have already known about this pollution. We have also bought rubbish bins. We warned factories causing pollution in the village and reported to senior authorities,” Nguyen Van Thang, Vice-Chairman of the People's Committee of Nhu Quynh told DTiNews.
