Vinh Phuc (VNA) - Environmental services co-operatives have beenoperating for years in the northern province of Vinh Phuc, providinga cleaner living environment for residents.

For example, in Binh Xuyen district’s Tam Hop commune, the Tam HopEnvironment Service Co-operative, founded in 2014, is equipped with twoincinerators with a burning capacity of 15 tonnes of waste daily.

According to Pham Van Chung, head of the Environment Office underthe provincial Co-operative Alliances, the province now has over 200environment service co-operatives that not only keep the environment green andclean, but also provide hundreds of jobs for local labourers.

The alliance is now co-operating with a French non-governmentalorganisation to run a project of waste management in rural area in 25 communes.The project supplies equipment and training for the co-operatives’ workers inorder to assist the communes to collect and treat waste in an effectiveand environmentally friendly way, he said.

Tran Thi Trieu, a resident in Doi Chua village, said that in thepast, residents suffered strong smells because waste was only collected once aweek. Since a co-operative was put into operation, “the environment we areliving in is cleaner,” she said.

The co-operative has 14 staff, including four engineers. Itsincinerator has a daily capacity of 10 tonnes of waste, with the price equal toone fifth of an imported incinerator having the same capacity. It has sold 50incinerators to surrounding areas, so far.

Chairman of the People’s Committee of the commune, Ta Van Phong,said there was no waste piled up at the commune causing unpleasant smells sincethe co-operative was set up.

Another well-run environmental service co-operative operates inTho Tang town of Vinh Tuong district. The Tho Tang EnvironmentService Co-operative, set up in 2009, collects about 15 tonnes of waste daily.

Nguyen Van Minh, deputy head of the co-operative, said it had morethan 20 workers, divided into six groups collecting waste in six residentialareas of the town. “Our workers come to the smallest alleys to collect waste sothat our every road and alley are kept clean,” he said.

Le Van Long, chairman of the town’s People’s Committee, said itwas often difficult to collect all the waste discharged in the town dailybefore the co-operative was established. “At the end of the day, waste would pileup in many places, especially markets and roads," he said. That hadcompletely changed now, he added.

The Hoang Lau Environment Service Co-operative has been runningsince 2010 in Tam Dương district’s Hoang Lau commune. It was designed to gatherfive tonnes of waste each day, helping the commune clean its environment underthe Government’s programme of building new rural area.

Nguyen Kim Xuyen, head of the co-operative, said it equipped 20garbage trucks for waste collecting in 12 residential areas every two days.-VNA