Used clothes collected for charity become 300-tonne treatment problem in Hanoi

After sorting out clothes suitable for reuse and donating them to those in need, the individual left the remaining items at the site.

Le Quang Hop, head of the Tu Liem Ward infrastructure investment project management board, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper on Thursday that the clothing stockpile at the Pham Hung-Le Duc Tho connecting road project belonged to an individual who had collected the items over many years for charity.

Local police have questioned the person involved in the incident.

Workers from Urban Environment Limited Company (URENCO) have been clearing piles of accumulated used clothing at the site over the past two days.

As observed by a Tuoi Tre reporter on Thursday, the piles of old clothes had been reduced compared with the previous day.

The clothing had accumulated along a section of the Pham Hung-Le Duc Tho connecting road project.

The road surface in this section has been paved, and the area is awaiting connection to another section where site clearance has recently been completed near Alley 252 on My Dinh Street.

Waste treatment, transport costs estimated at over $7,730

Tran Ngoc Tu, deputy director of the Cau Dien branch of URENCO (URENCO 7), told Tuoi Tre that the clothing stockpile was the only accumulation of used garments within the area managed by the company.

The volume was estimated at between 200 and 300 metric tons.

Following instructions from the Tu Liem Ward People's Committee, the firm has been removing the clothing and transporting it to the Nam Son waste treatment facility.

URENCO 7 has signed a contract with URENCO 10, a company licensed to handle industrial waste, to carry out the disposal.

Under the contract, treatment costs are estimated at more than VND1 million ($38.7) per metric ton of industrial waste.

"If all the clothing accumulated at the construction site is transported and treated, the total cost will exceed VND200 million ($7,730)," Tu said.

The incident has raised questions about who will bear the cost of removing and treating the clothing, as well as the responsibilities of the individual who accumulated the items.

A representative of Tu Liem Ward said local police had asked the ward People's Committee to impose an administrative penalty on the person responsible for leaving the used clothing at the site.

Tu said the disposal costs would be paid by the Tu Liem Ward People's Committee to URENCO 7.

The company expected all the remaining clothing to be cleared from the project on Friday.

After remaining at the site for an extended period, the clothes became damp and mouldy, producing unpleasant odours and raising concerns about environmental hygiene.

Last week, large quantities of used clothes, blankets, belts and other items were found piled up in the area, packed in sacks or bundled together.

Some piles reached nearly two meters high.

Local residents said the clothes had been piled up at the site for a long time and urged the authorities to clear them promptly and take measures to address the problem, reported Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.

An official of the economic, infrastructure and urban affairs division of Tu Liem Ward said local authorities had repeatedly organized cleanup operations and implemented measures to prevent illegal dumping and the unauthorized stockpiling of waste.

Warning signs prohibiting rubbish dumping had previously been installed in the area, while surveillance cameras had also been set up to monitor the site and identify violators.

However, as the area was recently cleared to make way for the road project, the cameras could no longer remain in their original locations, allowing the problem to recur.