It is common to see piles of electronic waste with mostly being TV and computer screens along a road in Yen Thinh Village in Vinh Tuong District’s Binh Duong Commune.
Many villagers live on by purchasing old electronic products such as televisions, washing machines and fridges to take their copper core to sell. Then, many of those which are valueless are thrown onto the deserted road near the field.
Nguyen Van Nam from Binh Duong Commune said that more piles of e-waste have been brought to the road and then burnt. To date, nothing has been done to deal with the issue.
According to another local resident named Nguyen Hoa Minh, the burning takes place every day, threatening surrounding people’s health.
Dang Quoc Viet, chairman of Binh Duong Commune, admitted the problem, adding most of e-waste buyers in the locality are poor. The commune set up task force to tackle the violation but still failed to catch violators red-handed.
These days, the burning is even seen during the daytime.
At present, Vinh Tuong District does not have a concentrated waste treatment area, so the burning is the main method, said the district people’s committee Chairman Tran Viet Cuong. He noted that the locality has planned a waste treatment plant construction in Tam Phuc and Lung Hoa communes.