Despite Hanoi's pollution, people still burn garbage in the middle of the street
In recent days, air quality in Hanoi has continuously remained at a bad level, posing many potential risks to people's health. According to experts, this situation comes from many sources of emissions such as transportation, industry, agriculture, construction activities and especially the incineration of household waste in residential areas.
Although air pollution is at an alarming level, many places in the city still have spontaneous garbage burning. On the morning of December 3, on Pham Tu Street towards Tan Trieu K Hospital, reporters recorded garbage filling the roadside, many piles of garbage were burned, leaving behind large black burns, some points still hazy with smoke.
At the same time, two women who collect scrap were also present to burn old electric wires for copper core.
"I have seen this area burning for a long time, and when I pass by during the day, I see it burning, and they burn every time it is full. I only have a handful of copper wires, burning them all, but they burn a lot, I don't know," said a woman burning a copper wire.
According to the reporter's observation, burning plastic to get copper creates thick black smoke, a strong burning smell, and flare up with red and green.
On the same day, in the area near Hoa Mai Public Kindergarten (Ha Dong ward), the situation of spontaneous garbage dumping and incineration also occurred similarly.
At around 10:30 a.m., a woman rode a bicycle carrying scrap to this area to pick up an old electric wire and then burned it for a copper core. She said that each kilogram of copper is sold for about 190,000 VND and each burn can earn tens of thousands.
When asked about the current situation of burning garbage here, this woman said that every time she comes to burn copper wire, if she sees dry garbage, she often burns it to "clean it up and be neat". At the same time, she said that vegetable growers around this area do the same thing when trash is full.
Quick treatment to ensure environmental hygiene
Regularly going to the market in this area, a resident of Ha Dong ward said that every time she passes by, she has to wear a mask because the garbage gives off a foul smell, which is very unpleasant. When garbage is burned, thick smoke rises, affecting health even more. Hanoi is already polluted, burning garbage like that only makes the situation worse. Therefore, people hope to soon take measures to completely handle this situation.
Mr. Bui Duc Trung, security guard of Hoa Mai Public Kindergarten, said that this situation has existed for a long time, since this place was still in Van Phuc ward (old). The school has repeatedly reported it but it has not been completely handled.
"In my observation, it is mainly those who buy garbage, people burn electric wires, or those who pick up garbage, people also burn it, including rubber pads that people burn, the smell is very pungent, not only the school sees pollution but also the surrounding residents also report it a lot", Mr. Trung said.
Regarding this issue, on December 4, speaking with a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of the Ha Dong Ward Infrastructure Investment Project Management Board said that the unit had received feedback.
"We have received the information and are assigning units to coordinate with each other to fix it soon in the next 1-2 days. Previously, this area was managed by the Department of Agriculture and Environment, and we only received the handover from December 1, 2025", said a representative of the Ha Dong Ward Infrastructure Investment Project Management Board.
