On May 20, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang inspected the current status of Xuan Son Solid Waste Treatment Area and worked at Seraphin Waste Power Plant (AMACCAO Group), listening to a general report on solid waste treatment in the city.
Residue of about 4 million tons of old waste
Reporting at the working session, Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh - Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of AMACCAO Group said that the Group is proposing to synchronously deploy the environmental ecosystem at Xuan Son Solid Waste Treatment Area with 4 key components including: Solid Waste Treatment and Building Material Recycling Complex; fly ash landfill; AMACCAO - Thanh Cong Waste Treatment and Power Generation Plant and Xuan Son eco-tourism complex project combined with environmental restoration of the old landfill.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Vinh, the Seraphin waste-to-energy plant currently generates about 300 tons of ash and slag/day and night. Although according to the technology orientation, this amount of ash and slag must be used to produce building materials or make roadbeds, in fact, public investment projects have not yet approved the list of recycled materials, leading to output congestion.
From that reality, the enterprise proposed to invest in ash and slag recycling plant combined with solid construction waste treatment of the city.
Notably, AMACCAO leaders believe that Hanoi is facing an "environmental paradox", when the total capacity of waste-fired power plants that have been and are being deployed is up to more than 14,000 tons/day and night, while the actual amount of waste generated by 2030 is forecast to be only about 9,000 - 9,500 tons/day and night. This means that the risk of a shortage of 4,500 - 5,000 tons of waste/day for waste-fired power plants is real.
According to businesses, the fundamental solution is to allow the treatment of the volume of old garbage that has been buried and accumulated for many years in Xuan Son and Nam Son. Xuan Son area alone currently has about 4 million tons of old garbage, causing great pressure on the environment, leachate and directly affecting investment attraction in the Western Capital area.
If handled synchronously, the city will not only solve environmental pollution but also gradually release land funds, forming ecological spaces, services, and public parks in the future.
There are still many problems in the waste management cycle
Concluding the working session, Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Dai Thang highly agreed with the direction of treating ash and slag, recycling solid construction waste and treating sludge according to the circular economy, directly serving the needs of urban reconstruction of the Capital. At the same time, he welcomed the proposal to build Xuan Son eco-tourism complex combined with thorough treatment of old landfilled waste, considering this as a fundamental solution to restore the environment and effectively exploit the land fund after treatment.
Citing international experience, including Singapore, where treated landfills are converted into public spaces serving people, Mr. Vu Dai Thang said that Hanoi can completely move towards a similar model if it successfully treats old landfills in Nam Son and Xuan Son.
In addition, the Chairman of the City People's Committee said that waste treatment is currently only the "last step" in the entire waste management cycle of the city. In fact, there are still many problems from collection, transportation, and transshipment to controlling odors, dust and urban environmental pollution.
Mr. Vu Dai Thang especially noted the dust pollution situation in the context of Hanoi promoting urban renovation and reconstruction on a large scale.
In that spirit, the Chairman of the City People's Committee assigned the Department of Agriculture and Environment to preside over general advice on environmental pollution control solutions, especially air pollution and urban dust; research appropriate management models for large-scale environmental services instead of scattered and small-scale in each locality. At the same time, it is requested to continue to coordinate with environmental enterprises such as AMACCAO, Thien Y to research and apply new technology solutions in waste treatment, dust control and improve the quality of the living environment of the Capital's people.
According to a report by the Department of Agriculture and Environment, Hanoi currently generates about 8,400 tons of domestic solid waste every day; of which about 7,250 tons/day have been treated by combustion and power generation technology at factories in Xuan Son and Nam Son, but the city still has to land more than 1,000 tons/day. The city aims to complete 100% of domestic waste treatment by combustion and power generation technology by the end of 2027, ending direct landfill.
