Used Condoms Being Recycled And Resold In Vietnam

Vietnam police seized more than 340,000 used condoms this week. Authorities said the condoms were found being recycled for resale in a warehouse in the southern Binh Duong province.

Footage of the raid showed dozens of sacks of used condoms in the warehouse. The footage also showed tools used to wash and reshape the condoms. The owner of the warehouse admitted being paid $0.17 per kilogram of the condoms, which she washes, boils, reshapes with wooden dildos, and then repackages as new condoms in plastic bags.

The contraceptives, which were found scattered across the floor of the warehouse, weighed more than 360 kg. Vietnam police said it was equivalent to about 345,000 condoms.

It remains unclear how many such condoms have already been resold on the market or how they are being sold but Vietnam police said the owner of the warehouse confessed that she had purchased the confiscated condoms from a man from the province, saying she receives “a monthly input of used condoms from an unknown person.”

Market inspectors raided the warehouse following a tip from a local resident in Ho Chi Minh City that a factory in Binh Duong repacks used condoms and sell them at the market. The 34-year-old owner of the warehouse is now in detention and Vietnam police are now tracking down the other people involved in the illegal operation.

Meanwhile, a health official in Vietnam said recycled condoms pose an extreme health risk to users. According to mywaste.com, both male and female condoms are not recyclable, meaning they can only be used once. The website also states that there are no more earth-friendly ways of throwing out a used condom except by wrapping it in a toilet paper or a paper bag before putting it in the garbage.