Waste treatment in a poor country Source: 25-JUL-2008 Intellasia | Vietnamnet
Jul 25, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
According to a report released by the World Bank (WB) in June 2008, HCM City and Hanoi are the most polluted locations in Vietnam.
Rubbish has become a burning issue for Hanoi and HCM City, the two largest cities of Vietnam.
It is estimated that each family discharges 1kg of waste a day. With over 3 million residents, Hanoi produces around 3,000 tonnes of rubbish a day and HCM City 6,000.
Hanoi currently gives priority to treating the waste of 36 hospitals (accounting for 10% of the total waste) by burning. The 90% of remaining waste is buried at the Nam Son dumping ground. Waste treatment costs the city hundreds of billion dong a year. HCM City spent 459 billion dong (over US$28.6 million) on this task last year.
There are three popular methods to treat waste in the world: burning, burying and compost. In developed countries like the UK, Japan, Switzerland, burning is the preferred method. However, this is the most expensive one.
The cost for the compost method is less than burning but it requires 3-4 months and without proper care, this method may cause environmental pollution.
In Vietnam, burying is the most popular because it is cheap. However, this method requires vast land area and can cause water and air pollution.
Lack of dumping grounds is a problem for Hanoi and it will be a big problem for HCM City in the next 20-25 years.
Besides lacking land for burying waste, pollution is another risk. While authorities don't pay proper attention to waste treatment, many new residential areas, golf courses, resorts and industrial zones are being built.
Whenever the question of how waste water and rubbish will be treated is not answered satisfactorily, authorities should not licence ecological residential areas or super-clean industrial zones.
Depending on their budget, each country applies its own methods to treat waste. It is suggested that spending on treating waste should be sourced from selling recycled products.
While environmental managers are wondering about criteria to evaluate pollution and worrying about lack of funds for waste treatment, many people are living on dumping grounds by seeking, classifying and recycling rubbish.
It is good news that HCM City is working on a model of a rubbish recycling centre and Hanoi should follow suit.
