alarming waste situation
According to statistics from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City, the city emits about 13,000 tons of domestic solid waste (CTRSH) every day. Of which, only about 3,000 tons (23%) are recyclable, the remaining 10,000 tons are collected to treatment plants.
According to Lao Dong in some areas of Ho Chi Minh City, the situation of polluted waste is still suspended, affecting people's lives. A typical example is garbage spreading on a 200m long section of To Huu Street in Binh Thanh District. The landfill gives off a foul smell due to overload at the garbage collection point. The delay in transporting waste for treatment causes waste to stagnate and spread, causing frustration for people, especially in the area near the Ho Chi Minh City Academy of Officials. littering also occurred on Nguyen Thi Soc Street, Xuan Thoi Dong Commune, Hoc Mon District.
According to Professor, Doctor of Science Le Huy Ba, former Director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Environmental Management (Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry), each year the population of Ho Chi Minh City increases by about 200,000 people, causing urban waste to increase by 10 - 15%, expected to increase by about 22,000 tons/day by 2050. The current waste treatment method is mainly landfill, accounting for 70% of the total waste. Only 30% is recycled or burned using old technology, half of the waste after treatment still has to be buried. This shows the slowness in innovating waste treatment technology, causing serious consequences. "This situation is unacceptable. Landfill has a big impact on the city's land area. If it continues like this, there will be no more landfills in just a few years," Professor Ba emphasized.
Mr. Vo Van Quang, representative of Toan Quoc Environmental Engineering Trading Service Co., Ltd. (operating in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) acknowledged that the city is developing, the waste situation is increasing rapidly.
Need for a 4.0 revolution in waste treatment
Professor Ba believes that Ho Chi Minh City needs a 4.0 revolution in waste treatment. This includes promoting waste classification at source, improving the quality of private waste collection services, and innovating waste treatment technology. Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City Nguyen Toan Thang said that there are currently 4 projects to convert heat-powered waste treatment technology to power generation generation. In particular, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has issued an investment policy decision for 2 technology conversion projects of Vietstar Joint Stock Company (2,000 tons/day) and Tam Sinh Nghia Development Investment Joint Stock Company (2,000 tons/day).
According to Mr. Thang, putting VietStar Power Plant and other waste-to-energy plants into operation is part of Ho Chi Minh City's overall environmental protection strategy, combined with solutions such as converting all waste treatment technology to waste generation by 2030; promoting organic waste recycling into fertilizers and biofuels; strictly controlling water, air and industrial waste pollution; building a smart solid waste management system, connecting waste treatment data throughout Ho Chi Minh City.
The VietStar Waste-to-energy Plant project is expected to be completed in 16 months, helping to increase the rate of waste burned to nearly 50% of the total amount of waste generated in Ho Chi Minh City. Regarding the investment plan to build waste-to-energy plants, Mr. Vo Van Quang, representative of Toan Quoc Environmental Engineering Service Trading Company Limited (operating in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) said that he supports this direction, because it will help reduce the amount of waste that needs to be treated, thereby reducing pressure on collection units. According to Mr. Quang, it is hoped that when waste classification at source is implemented well, issues related to waste treatment will be resolved more effectively.
The money-based waste weighing pilot in Ho Chi Minh City is still inadequate
The money-auction pilot in Binh Chanh and Hoc Mon districts since the end of February has revealed many shortcomings. Ms. Le Hong Linh, representative of the garbage collection unit in Ba Diem commune, Hoc Mon district, said that weighing garbage at each household is not practical, especially when the family organizes a party. Meanwhile, after collection, the waste is weighed at the public service company to calculate the fee, causing damage to the collection unit.
Quang Nam, Da Nang treat waste with high technology
Quang Nam and Da Nang are promoting the application of high technology in waste treatment, to solve the increasingly serious problem of environmental pollution in these urban areas.
The project of the solid waste treatment area using advanced incineration technology "Using waste incineration technology to generate heat" is being promoted for investment in Quang Nam, expected to operate in the period from 2025 to 2030.
The project is built in Hoa Dong village, Tam Nghia commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province with a capacity of 15MW, a processing scale of 800 tons/day and an implementation area of 86,418 m2. The project has been included in the National Power Development Plan for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050. According to the plan to develop solid waste treatment areas in Quang Nam province in the period of 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, the whole province of Quang Nam will have 29 concentrated waste treatment areas.
For Da Nang City, up to now, there has only been one Khanh Son landfill that has been a place to receive and treat waste for decades. This leads to overload when the amount of household waste in the city is up to about 1,150 tons/day and night, especially during the peak tourist season. After many years of delays, recently, at the 22nd session (special session) of the 10th term, term 2021 - 2026, the People's Council of Da Nang City decided to cancel the initial investment policy of the Project to build a solid waste treatment plant with a capacity of 1,000 tons/day and night, in order to adjust the competent authority deciding on the investment policy.
The project will continue to be implemented in the form of public-private partnership (PPP) and the People's Committee of Da Nang City will take on the role of appraisal and submitting to competent authorities for project approval, instead of letting old investors do it as before.
Chairman of the People's Council of Da Nang City, Mr. Ngo Xuan Thang, emphasized: "This project belongs to Group B, with the People's Committee at the provincial level having the authority to decide on the investment policy. The repeal of the old resolution is necessary to comply with current regulations and implement new projects, especially when investors have changed.
Hoang Bin
