Piles of trash near Nhat Beach along Ben Dam Street, about 7km from Con Son Town, the center of Con Dao Archipelago off Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province.
The beach boasts white sand and lush green grass, and usually attracts tourists.
However, lying opposite the beach just across the road is the only concentrated landfill of Con Dao. It spreads 3,800 sq.m and currently contains more than 70,000 tons of garbage and has almost reached its full capacity.
The landfill currently receives 10-20 tons of garbage every day, including those discharged by locals and tourists.
The island is home to 12,000 citizens but every year, except for the pandemic year of 2021, it receives hundreds of thousands of visitors, including both Vietnamese and foreigners.
In the first nine months this year, more than 550,000 visited the island, up 123% compared to the same period in 2022, including more than 13,000 international visitors.
Garbage is dumped on the ground without cover.
Whenever there is a lot of trash, workers use excavators to level the surface.
Layers of old and new trash at the landfill.
Of the garbage, 46% is organic waste, 17% is plastic bags and 16% is food packaging.
Con Dao district authorities said the amount of trash is increasing rapidly thanks to tourism activities and trash drifting from the ocean to the island's shore.
However, the district has faced obstacles in calling for investment in waste treatment and choosing the treatment technology.
The dumping ground lies less than 100 m from the beach.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) calculates that each year the amount of garbage released into the environment in Con Dao is 32 tons, with Bai Nhat alone accounting for more than half.
The WWF warns that with limited infrastructure, the landfill could send tens of tons of plastic waste into the sea as it is getting overloaded and stands right by the sea.
Aside from the trash discarded on the island, Con Dao also receives trash washed over from sea.
Con Dao is 180 kilometers away from the shores of southern Ba Ria- Vung Tau Province, and is accessible by air and water.
In 2019, Con Dao District and Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province mulled a plan to pack solid waste and ship it to the mainland for disposal. However, the province later aborted the plan, saying the cost was too high.
In February last year, the province approved a private joint-venture to invest in a plant to treat garbage by incineration.
Due to a lack of funds, the project remains half-finished. It is not clear when it will be completed and start operation.
