05/12/2019
On May 8, 2019, in Hà Nội, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) organized two seminars to discuss “The management of solid wastes” and “Models and technologies for solid waste treatment and management”. These forums were the opportunities for central and local government agencies, political and social bodies, international organizations and businesses to discuss achievements and problems with the State mechanism on solid waste management and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of existing methods and technologies in Việt Nam in order to reveal some solutions to improve the quality of solid waste management in the future.
Current status of State management of solid waste
In the past few decades, the sharp increase of total population and rapid socio-economic development have led to the sharp increase of the demand for commodities, raw materials and energy, thus releasing more waste to the environment and causing problems for Việt Nam’s society and economy. Though government agencies have made the best efforts in waste collection, they still lag behind the growth in the volume of solid waste being discharged due to limited waste collection capability and public awareness. Therefore, solid waste management has remained a challenge for many local authorities. Facing the problem, the Government at its January meeting approved Decree No. 09/NQ-CP dated February 3, 2019 that assigns the MONRE to lead other Ministries and government agencies in managing solid waste collection and holds provincial people’s committee chairmen responsible for dealing with waste issues in their localities. Besides, under the Law of Environmental Protection, the MONRE is accountable for writing rules on waste collection activities and work with the Ministries of Construction, Health and Transport to implement the Law.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Võ Tuấn Nhân speaks at the seminar on State management of solid wastes
However, the Law’s sub-regulations such as Decrees No. 36/2017/ND-CP, No. 46/2015/ND-CP and No. 38/2015/ND-CP don’t clearly state or assign the roles, responsibilities and tasks among Government agencies on State management of solid wastes while the working mechanism is not yet commonly agreed by agencies. In the meantime, the decrees overlap each other, causing more problems for the implementation. Though the MONRE is legible to assess solid waste treatment technologies under the Law of Technological Transfer and instructional documents, but the duty is actually designated to the Ministry of Science and Technology and its provincial departments in accordance with Decree No. 38/2015/ND-CP and Decree No. 08/2014/ND-CP, which instructs the implementation of the Law of Science and Technology.
After revising existing rules, the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) proposes the Government amend Decree No. 24/2014/ND-CP dated April 4, 2014 to re-designate the tasks and responsibilities of professional units on helping the centrally-run cities and provinces improve the management of solid wastes in urban areas, industrial parks, economic zones, high-tech parks and building material production facilities from the departments of construction to the departments of natural resources and environment. The VEA also proposes the Government develop a new decree to amend the regulations on State management of solid wastes in accordance with Article 19’s Item 2 of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, which regulates measures to implement environmental policies under the Government’s direct management and supervision.
At the seminars, participants discussed big issues such as the State’s limitedness in management of solid wastes, policies on solid waste treatment projects, regional or interprovincial solid waste treatment planning and expenses for solid waste treatment. Meanwhile, both domestic and international experts also shared their experiences and practices in other countries about State management of solid wastes.
Make breakthroughs in solid waste treatment
At the seminar themed “Models and technologies for solid waste treatment and management”, reports showed that the volume of solid wastes discharged from the daily living activities is about 38.000 tons a day in the urban area and 32,000 tons a day in the rural area. Meanwhile, successful waste collection rate is 85 per cent and 40 - 55 percent, respectively, in the two areas. Daily-life solid wastes are often buried but only 30 per cent of those facilities are sanitary. Besides, across the country, there are now 30 facilities, which decompose wastes to organic humus and nearly 300 solid waste incinerators, which are small in size and properly serves the need of a commune. The investment and development of sanitary waste treatment facilities and burying areas have only been carried out some provinces and cities that have huge budget revenues. Therefore, the key matter for Việt Nam to improve its solid waste management is how to select the suitable model and technology.
The seminar themed “Models and technologies for solid waste treatment and management”
The seminar displayed some solid waste treatment technologies that have been used effectively such as electronic waste incineration, waste decomposition, electrification and common incineration. Among those models, the Cần Thơ electronic waste incinerator constructed by the China Everbright International Co., Ltd. in June 2017 at Trường Xuân Commune, Thới Lai District was quite well-received by attendees. Others included the daily-life waste incinerator that has a capacity of 400 tons a day and power of 8 MW and a factory treating wastes to produce biogas and organic fertilizers in Quảng Binh Province’s Bố Trạch District is built by the Vietnam Project Development Co., Ltd. Another remarkable project combines three technologies to collect recycleable materials and produce gas for power generation and organic fertilisers. The project can process 245 tons of solid waste a day and treat 76 tons of agricultural wastes a day. Meanwhile, a technology developed by the Hydraulics and Machinery Co., Ltd. can turn solid wastes into systhesis gas to run internal combustion engine and produce electricity.
However, attendees said domestic solid waste treatment technologies have not been mastered and replicated because the initial investment expenses are quite higher than other forms of solid waste treatment while there are no incentives for businesses and organisations developing those technologies. Besides, most of foreign-developed technologies do not suit the practice in Việt Nam, where humidity is high, local supplies are not corresponding to the technological development and the quality of automation is low, therefore, the technologies and their impacts are not yet made in large scale. Advantages and disadvantages of each locality regarding solid waste management were also discussed at the seminar and so were the technologies to find the solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of daily-life solid waste management in the future.
Concluding the seminar, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Võ Tuấn Nhân requested the VEA collect feedback of participants and quickly complete the draft decree to amend regulations on State management of solid wastes and submit the draft to the Government. The VEA was also asked to work with all provincial departments of natural resources and environment to inspect and evaluate the quality of solid waste management in local areas. In addition, the administration must also develop a draft criteria on the selection of solid waste treatment technologies and send it to local authorities for pilot implementation. The Deputy Minister also asked the administration and relevant agencies to keep studying the plan in which the State budget is used to hire international consultancy to develop an environmental protection scheme, which includes solid waste management. Meanwhile, other ministries should work closely with the MONRE and local authorities to seriously carry out the Government’s Resolution No. 09/NQ-CP dated February 3, 2019 to learn the ways to improve the quality of solid waste collection, treatment and management in the country.
Thu Hằng
(Source: Vietnam Environment Administration Magazine, English Edition II - 2019)
