Policy for Improvement of Solid Waste Management in Vietnam

1. Policy for Improvement of Solid Waste Management in Vietnam Nguyen Thi Kim Thai Centre for Environmental Engineering of Towns and Industrial Areas (CEETIA) University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi, Vietnam

2. VIET NAM Area: 330 000 000 ha Population: 79.7 millions of which: Urban population: 25 % Population Growth Rate: 1.35 % Density: 242 pop./km2

3. According to the National classification on urban category (Decree No 72/2001/ND-CP), up to 2003 the whole country consists of 656 towns with the major categories:

4. Solid Waste Management in Vietnam at a Glance Data compiled from Vietnam Environment Monitor 2004

5. Waste Generation in Vietnam in 2003 Note: industrial waste excludes mining waste; rural industrial waste derives from craft village, Source: Consultant Data Group survey 2004, SOE report 2002 MOH 2004, NEA 1999, MOI 2002-2003

6. Markets Domestic wastes, Institutionalwastes etc. Waste transpor-tation Disposal Site Collection points Streets PublicAreas Mechanical Natural Manual The common flow of Solid Watse in the urban areas in Vietnam

7. Expenditure on Operation and Maintenance of Solid Waste Management Systems Large cities Medium-sized cities Small cities Sources: Survey of Urencos, 2003, Large cities: population >500,000; Medium-sized cities: population 250,000 – 500,000; Small cities: population < 250,000.

8. Solid Waste Fee Payment by Urban Households Source: Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey, 2003

9. The key issues in solid waste management • In the process of industrialization and urbanization, the release of solid waste has been increasing both in its quantity and hazard. • Current investment in Waste management services is constrained through lack of available finance; • Insufficient socialisation (involvement of the communitiy and increased public private partneships) in solid waste management services.

10. The key issues in solid waste management • No separation of wastes at source or the separation of hazardous waste from municipal solid waste; • Lack of proper waste treatment facilities as well management skill at the landfill site; • Lack of sustainable investment in waste disposal facilities

11. Policy for solid waste management will be developed in consistence with suitable economic tools in order to change the behaviour from enforcing to encouraging. Policy on Solid Waste Management

12. Solid Waste Management Policies Major orientations for solid waste management policies in particular and for environmental protection in general including the following: Solid waste collection Solid waste recycling and reuse Solid waste disposal

13. Encouraging the formulation of private companies, co-operatives, private • and state-owned enterprises working on collection, transportation and • treatment of solid waste. Applying favourable financial policies as stated in Law on encouraging domestic investment. Providing support from governmental budget to solid waste treatment is compulsory work, there is little opportunity for profit making and it requires huge initial investment. Solid waste collection • Employees working direction directly with solid waste collection, transportation and treatment should be put in heavy and hazardous working category. Hence, wage policies and hazardous allowance, labour protection must be given proper consideration. • Waste picking should be considered as profession. In general, waste pickers are very helpful for solid waste management as they recover a large proportion of wastes for recycling and reusing, therefore, this work needs to be organized and managed. • Imposing decisive fines in cases of violating Law on Environmental Protection, regulations in urban sanitation together with providing proper incentive schemes to encouraging good habits in citizens.

14. Minimization of solid wastes • Encouraging the application of new and cleaner production process or clean technology. For existing enterprises, any changes aiming at modernization of equipment, production procedures, technology that leads to minimizing wastes in general are considered cleaner production. • Minimizing of solid waste at sources by following solutions: optimal use of raw materials, changing product formulas, reducing packing materials, changing consuming habits.

15. Solid waste recycling and reuse • Enhancing recovery of used products to reuse for the same purpose or others. Encourage production facilities to recycle solid waste by collecting the used products in order to reprocess and distribute them again into market under the form of original products or as new products. • Reusing or reprocessing of solid waste can be done in concentrated industrial zones based on an information system for waste exchange as solid waste, in some cases, in one place can be used as raw material in another place.

16. Solid waste disposal The existing disposal facilities for open dumping of solid waste should be improved to become sanitary landfills. It is necessary to construct new sanitary landfills with large capacity that can be used for at least 20 years. These land fills should include the plant designed epecially for toxic and hazardous waste disposal. The construction of toxic waste disposal plant should conform to international standards. Budgets should be allocated to construct central treatment facilities for solid waste, including facilities to disposal hazardous waste. Treatment facilities for industrial hazardous wastes should be created by applying the following method: Chemical/Physical treatment Stabilization Solidification