LookAtVietnam – In response to the fact that most landfills in Viet Nam fall short of meeting environmental standards, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked the Viet Nam Development Bank to develop a waste treatment project in the capital last week.

A worker processes waste at a treatment plant in the capital. A programme for investing in and building treatment plants between 2009-20 is needed to meet environmental standards.

MoC said 85-90 per cent of the landfills in the country are currently out of date and use inefficient technology, which both harms the environment and has a negative impact on the lives of local people.

Hai said that relevant ministries and departments should begin with a regional pilot plant before launching a system of plants nationwide with the support of State and private investment.

To start, the bank should create good incentive policies to attract investors while MoC will work to approve feasible projects.

Both the ministry and the bank should co-operate in the creation of incentive policies for investors.

MoC must work toward addressing the country’s waste management by providing guidance to localities regarding the conditions and standards of waste treatment technology, Hai said.

At a recent sustainable development conference, experts said the treatment of domestic, industrial, hospital, and especially solid waste was urgent to every locality in Viet Nam, with the hottest areas being the major urban hubs of Ha Noi, HCM City, Hai Phong and Da Nang.

Conference participants also said that inadequate waste management contributed to the nation’s economic losses and that estimates indicate up to 1.3 million people will move to urban areas every year until 2020.

The urbanisation level in Viet Nam will reach 33 per cent by 2010 and 45 per cent by 2020 – doubling from 23 to 46 million people, shows ministry data.

Officials from MoC said the amount of residential, industrial and medical solid waste throughout Viet Nam each day comes to about 20,000 tonnes, but on average only 82 per cent is collected.

About 2,000 tonnes of the solid waste is recyclable.

Nearly 60 million tonnes of waste is generated in rural areas each year. Experts forecast the amount of waste to increase 24 to 30 per cent by 2015.

Currently there are only 13 waste treatment plants to accommodate 2,000 tonnes of waste per year for 740 urban areas in the country.

Under the project, officials expect to raise the number of plants to more than 60 over the next six years.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News