A plastic for a penny
Now let’s go to Vietnam where there is no infrastructure for plastic waste management.

How does a middle-income country with other priorities manages its waste? Easy. It burns it or let it go to the sea. Most plastic wastes are not recycled in the country. That’s why Vietnam is one of the champions of pouring plastic into the ocean.

A tiny part of the plastic used in the country is recycled. In the south of Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital city, there is a neighbourhood dedicated to plastic management. I went to visit this beautiful place.

People who don’t want to bother with their plastic waste often burn it on the spot. It is a harmless practice in the countryside, but in Hanoi which is one of the most polluted cities in the world, plastic burning contributes to air pollution and respiratory diseases.

People who don’t want to burn their trash simply put in a plastic bag and let it on the side of the street. During the night, trash collectors come to take those bags. These collectors are paid according to the weight of waste they bring to the recycling company.

Wastes are not made equal and some are more valuable than others. For example, hard plastic used for tables and chairs is more valuable than plastic bottles. Waste collectors try to get the most valuable waste to increase their salary.
['Thuận Sarzynski']
['Travel', 'Vietnam', 'Sustainability', 'Environment', 'Photography']