Silently protecting the environment

Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, women who work as scrap collectors quietly earn a living with hard, toxic work and unstable income. On the other hand, they quietly make an important contribution to the collection, classification and recycling of waste, contributing to environmental protection.

The City Women's Union donated livelihood tools to support women scrap collectors in difficulty in 2025. Photo: NQ

Frontline garbage sorting force

Ms. Ho Thi Nhan (Thanh Khe ward) has been collecting scrap for more than 10 years to make a living. Every day, she wakes up early, wanders around residential areas to buy scrap, sort it, and then sell it to agents. Her work is hard, often exposed to bad smells, dirty garbage, and the risk of skin and respiratory diseases, but her income is only about 3 million VND/month.

Due to difficult family circumstances, having to rent a house, the couple did not have children. She also did not have social insurance, only received a health insurance card from the locality. She wished to have a small house to stabilize her life and have enough health to continue her career.

Meanwhile, Ms. Dang Thi Loi (Ngu Hanh Son ward) has been making a living collecting scrap metal for more than 20 years. The work is hard, she has cut her hands many times with iron, stepped on sharp objects, and even fallen off her bike while carrying bulky goods. Unstable income, no pension or health insurance, makes her always worried about old age.

However, she still persevered in her job to raise her two children to go to university and now both have stable jobs. Mrs. Loi shared: “As long as I have the strength, I will continue to work to save money in case I get sick. If I stop working, I will not know where to turn if I get sick. I hope to be supported with an annual health insurance card to reduce the burden of hospital fees.”

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Nga, Vice President of the Women's Union of Ngu Hanh Son Ward, said that while in the past, collecting scrap was only seen as a way to make a living, society now clearly recognizes that the group of women scrap collectors is an important link in the chain of recycling, reusing and reducing plastic waste. They are the frontline waste sorting force, separating recyclable materials from household waste, helping to significantly reduce the amount of landfill waste.

Currently, the ward has established a Women's Club for collecting scrap metal with 25 members, maintaining regular activities. Members are trained in waste classification, hygiene, and health protection. In addition, the City Women's Union gives those in difficult circumstances health insurance, means of livelihood, gifts, and labor protection kits. Thanks to that, the women are more confident, see their work as meaningful, and are positively recognized by the community.

The City Women's Union held a consultation workshop to contribute ideas to develop a policy proposal to support the group of women scrap collectors on November 17. Photo: NQ

Support for women scrap collectors

In order to support the women's scrap collector group, the City Women's Union has implemented many activities of the project "Strengthening the capacity and mobilizing the participation of women's scrap collector groups in the management, classification and treatment of solid waste and plastic waste in Da Nang city". The project is funded by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and approved by the People's Committee of Da Nang city, implemented from December 2024 to December 2025 in 3 wards of Ngu Hanh Son, An Khe and Thanh Khe.

Many project activities were implemented such as: establishing and maintaining Women's Scrap Collectors' Clubs in pilot localities; supporting loans and livelihoods; organizing communication activities, sorting waste at source with the participation of the Women's Scrap Collectors' Network...

Ms. Truong Thi Thanh, An Khe Ward Women's Scrap Collector Club, said that joining the club helps members gain more knowledge and skills in waste classification, contributing to environmental protection. At the same time, they are guided in health-enhancing exercises and given health insurance cards. This is a great encouragement for the women who work in scrap collecting and are participating in the project.

In order to develop a policy mechanism to support the group of women scrap collectors, the City Women's Union recently organized a consultation workshop to listen to comments from delegates. According to Vice President of the City Women's Union Nguyen Thi Huyen, at the workshop, delegates heard a report on the results of the project "Strengthening the capacity and mobilizing the participation of the group of women scrap collectors in managing, classifying and treating waste".

Based on these results, delegates discussed and proposed more appropriate policies, focusing on supporting health insurance, voluntary social insurance, providing protective equipment, labor tools and recognizing female scrap collectors as an official workforce participating in the circular economy . The contributions help the association have a basis for advising on specific policies, ensuring social security and enhancing the role of female scrap collectors in the community.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/tham-lang-bao-ve-moi-truong-3310783.html