Dataset on informal recyclable waste aggregators ('Đồng nát') in Hanoi, Vietnam

This article presents a multidisciplinary dataset documenting informal recyclable-waste collection activities carried out by Informal Recyclable Waste Aggregators (IRWA) in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. IRWA constitute a key component of "đồng nát" [1-3], a long-standing and highly adaptive informal recycling system that has existed for decades, well before the establishment of modern waste-management infrastructures, and continues to play a crucial role in urban recycling in cities such as Hanoi [4]. The dataset was produced using combined data-acquisition methods, including socio-economic surveys, structured interviews, photographic documentation, and systematic recording of recyclable materials collected, traded, and transported [5]. Complementary spatial observations were conducted to document architectural contexts, street configurations, and landscape characteristics associated with informal collection activities in different urban settings of Hanoi [6]. The dataset integrates anonymized survey tables, photographic archives, coded interview transcripts, and descriptive spatial notes organized into standardized metadata categories. Variables capture demographic information, collection practices, material types and quantities, economic transactions, mobility patterns described qualitatively, and characteristics of collection environments such as alley typologies, public-space interfaces, and street-level activity patterns. The dataset is formatted for reuse in areas such as socio-economic profiling of informal labor, urban landscape analysis, material-flow documentation, circular-economy modelling, and the development of policy frameworks related to waste management and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) integration in Southeast Asian cities [7].