With Hanoi seeking to eradicate the use of charcoal for cooking by 2021 to prevent pollution, charcoal production facilities are shutting down. 

Before 2015 this alley of Bui Xuong Trach in Hanoi’s Thanh Xuan District was one of the biggest charcoal pellet making locations with 10 family-run facilities making the popular honeycomb-shaped pellets. Now only four remain in business.

In 2017 Hanoi unveiled a plan to stop the production of charcoal to tackle pollution, and has so far had 33,000 stoves removed. The Municipal People’s Committee wants charcoal stoves to be fully gone before the end of 2020. Authorities have helped people using them switch to other types of stoves that are more environment-friendly like those using gas or agricultural waste.

"Five years ago my family made 10,000 pellets a day and sold them; now we just hope to sell 1,000-2,000," Nguyen Lieu says while mixing coal powder and mud before molding them. His family is trying to sustain its livelihood until authorities completely ban charcoal pellets by the end of this year. According to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, more than 22,000 were still in use as of November 2019. Hanoians still burn 528 tons of charcoal every day, equivalent to 1,870 tons of CO2 emissions.

Bien, the owner of a charcoal making facility, stands amid thousands of unsold pellets. He and his wife do not know how to cope as demand for the product keeps falling.

Workers working in charcoal making facilities wear masks and gloves. "In the past, when demand was good, each facility hired 20 workers; now we have only 2-3 people," Lieu says. He is struggling to find an alternative livelihood, he admits. "In the worst case, I will work as a motorbike taxi driver."

Lieu uses his own motorbike to make deliveries. Most of his buyers are loyal clients living in the neighborhood.

At Vinh Tuy Bridge’s T4 pillar, where charcoal pellets used to be made before being distributed in the past, there is nothing left now except for some old bikes which are used for delivery.

But many people still prefer charcoal due to its cost of only around VND3,000 ($0.13) for a pellet. The owner of a restaurant on Vinh Ho Street in Dong Da District says: "A pellet can boil many kettles of water and cook food. In future we will use gas stoves when the authorities ban charcoal."

A tea shop on Nguyen Luong Bang Street uses charcoal pellets.

At a kindergarten in the central district of Hoan Kiem, charcoal stoves have been converted into flower pots. They are also used to teach children about environmental protection, according to the teachers.