Recycling gone bad:

Environmental officers in Vietnam have found that nearly 300 tonnes of medical waste from a Hanoi hospital was illegally processed into household plastic utensils, state media said Wednesday.

Help Grist raise $25,000 by September 30 to further advance our climate reporting

A staff member at the Vietnam-Germany Hospital sold the used plastic items — including IV transmission lines and syringes, some still contaminated with blood — said the police-run An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) daily.

The medical waste was sold for 1,500-6,000 dong (0.09-0.3 dollars) per kilogramme from 2002 and was melted and shaped into utensils such as plastic drinking cups, washing bowls and waste baskets, the report said.

Ewwwww.