Efforts exerted to fulfill waste treatment quota

​The Delegation of Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee visits a waste treatment plant in Quang Trung Commune (Thong Nhat District).

To reach the 3 by 5 target

According to Mr. Tran Trong Toan, Director of Sub-Department of Environmental Protection (Department of Natural Resources and Environment), by the end of July 2020, its departments, branches and localities have implemented 3/5 targets of the Provincial Party Committee’s Resolution on waste treatment including: conventional industrial waste collection and treatment; medical waste collection and treatment; collection and treatment of hazardous waste. The remaining 02 unachievable targets are 99.6% of daily-life solid waste collection and treatment (target of 100%) and domestic solid waste burying reaching 29% (target of 15%). The criteria for collection and treatment of domestic waste are mainly responsible for the People's Committees of the localities, the criteria of waste landfill depend heavily on waste treatment units.

Mr. Le Ngoc Tien, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Trang Bom District, said that the district previously had a domestic waste treatment plant, but in recent years, this factory has switched to specializing in treating industrial waste. The change of the garbage disposal unit makes the garbage transportation distance become longer, and spillage occurs. In addition, some households have not registered for collection and treatment of garbage, some areas have waste that has not been fully collected. “The district leaders have directed and determined to complete the garbage collection quota in 2020” - Mr. Tien said.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Vinh, Head of the Natural Resources and Environment Department of Bien Hoa City, said that household waste collection basically met its target, however, some public areas such as: Highway 1 and Highway 51, section passing Bien Hoa City, bare land, riverside, streams have no payment, so the garbage collector does not collect the garbage there, which leads to a situation in which the city has not yet collected 100% of domestic solid waste.

For the target of landfill, the current burial rate of daily-life solid waste in the waste treatment sites is about 29%. Specifically, the total volume of waste treated by composting method is 1,218 tons/day, treated by burning method is about 55 tons/day, completely buried about 303 tons/day, temporarily stored about 58 tons/day.

Currently, only 2/5 domestic waste disposal complexes are able to achieve this target: Waste Treatment Treatment in Quang Trung commune (Thong Nhat district) reached 14.5% and Waste treatment in Tuc Trung commune (Dinh Quan district) reached about 10%. Other processors have not had a license to operate the incinerator, have not ensured safety and environmental conditions, have not invested in production lines according to the designed capacity, amount of waste left in the previous years is still abundant, so the target of reducing landfill is not fulfilled by less than 15%.

Put in the effort to achieve set goals

Mr. Tran Anh Dung, General Director of Sonadezi Environment Joint Stock Company introduces the process of landfilling domestic waste

Deputy Director of Department of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Ngoc Thuong said that with a province developing diversified professions and leading the population in the country as Dong Nai, it is difficult to ensure the collection and thorough treatment of 100% of domestic solid waste. However, with the goal of parallel and sustainable development of economy - society - environment, Dong Nai is determined to step by step control the maximum amount of waste. This determination was incorporated into the resolution of the Provincial Party Committee for the whole political system to act together.

Mr. Thuong also informed that the waste treatment plant (WTP) in Quang Trung commune (Thong Nhat district) is investing in a production line to increase the treatment capacity from 1.1 thousand tons of waste per day to 1.2 thousand tons of waste per day; Vinh Tan WTP (Vinh Cuu District), in the fourth quarter of this year, will officially put into operation a waste treatment plant using the burning technology of 450 tons per day; Xuan Tam WTP (Xuan Loc district) is completing environmental procedures to operate a processing line of 120 tons of waste per day; Xuan My WTP (Cam My district) had to install an automatic emission monitoring system according to the regulations of the MONRE to operate the incinerator with 72 tons of waste per day. “If these waste treatment plants are completed with legal procedures and operate according to the designed capacity, the solid waste landfill rate will be below 15% according to the resolution target for the period 2015-2020 of the Provincial Party Committee.” - said Mr. Thuong.

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Chanh said that said that collecting and treating maximum types of waste and reducing the rate of landfill waste brings great economic, social and environmental benefits. Therefore, the province requires local departments, branches, and People's Committees to promote propaganda for households to register for garbage collection, to sort waste at source; request garbage collection units to invest in specialized vehicles so as not to drop garbage and waste water during the transportation process; deducting funds for environmental protection to pay for garbage collection in public places; organize regular garbage collection to complete the collection target of 100% of domestic waste.

Waste treatment plants must quickly complete legal procedures, put into operation the approved waste treatment technology and capacity; disposing of classified waste according to the correct process, both take advantage of recycled resources, reduce landfill area and contribute to reducing the rate of landfill waste below 15%.

By Phan Anh