Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
‘Invisible Warriors: The Force Behind Viet Nam’s Plastic Action’ takes you into the daily lives of two remarkable women in Hanoi – part of an invisible workforce of nearly 10,000 informal waste collectors who form the backbone of Viet Nam’s waste management system.
Viet Nam generates around 1.8 million tonnes of plastic waste, according to Viet Nam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. But the number is likely much higher.
Informal waste workers like Ms Nguyen Thi Kenh and Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh handle 90% of Viet Nam’s recycled waste. Most of them are women. It is only recently, however, that their essential work started to be recognized.
‘I don’t want people to misunderstand or view this as a bad job. It helps keep the environment clean and green,’ explains 59-year-old Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh, a collector who has done this job for over twenty years.
The flexibility to collect and sort in her own time while caring for her family is why she chose to be a scrap collector. Ms Nguyen Thi Lanh’s experience echoes many others’ working in this informal sector.
While the job of a waste worker comes with certain freedoms, there are major challenges, from how it affects workers’ health to financial instability.
VietCycle, a Hanoi-based company, provides informal waste workers, or ‘#GreenWarriors’, with protective equipment, fire-hazard training and microfinance courses. Through the support of the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (#GPAP), they have directly reached 3,500 people in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and hope to assist 10,000 in the future.
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