The Danang government has taken multiple steps to tackle the severe pollution at the Khanh Son landfill, the largest in the city, according to the municipal Department of Information and Communications.

A corner of the Khanh Son dumpsite, the largest in Danang City

Danang Urban Environment JSC has been assigned to cover burial sites for garbage with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) canvas sheets from October 20. In addition, the company will have to collect and treat the leachate from the Khanh Son dumpsite at a new treatment facility with a daily capacity of 700 cubic meters by October 15.

At the end of last month, the company installed two surveillance cameras at the dumpsite to monitor the waste treatment efforts and downsized the space used to some 2,000 square meters. It has also sprayed biological products at the site six times per day to reduce the odor.

Dang Duc Vu, general director of Danang Urban Environment JSC, said the firm had separated the waste of breweries and mud from sewers and seafood farms from regular household garbage and treated them during the course of the day.

These solutions were proposed after the locals stopped vehicles that were transporting garbage to the Khanh Son landfill on September 22 and 23 due to the increasingly severe pollution at the dumpsite.

The Khanh Son dumpsite was established 25 years ago and has used outdated technologies for waste treatment, causing environmental pollution and sparking widespread public concern.

Danang City discharges an average of 850-900 tons of garbage per day, and 95% of the waste is collected and buried at the Khanh Son dumpsite.

At a recent meeting, Le Quang Nam, director of the Danang Department of Natural Resources and Environment, stated that the city would close the dumpsite in 2022, three years later than the city’s previous plan.

The city also plans to work with the Asian Development Bank for funds to develop a solid waste treatment complex with an initial capacity of at least 1,000 tons per day.

The city is considering two sites for the project, which is worth nearly VND900 billion (US$38.5 million), with one site located next to the current Khanh Son landfill in the outlying district of Lien Chieu, covering an area of 25.9 hectares, and the other, at nearly 110 hectares, located in Hoa Nhon Commune, Hoa Vang District.

SGT