Waste treatment remains questionable Vietnam. Local residents sometimes block roads to prevent trucks from entering landfills and ask local authorities to remove the dumping grounds. Many landfills in cities and provinces have become ‘hot spots’ due to serious pollution.

It is estimated that up to 38,000 tonnes of municipal waste is generated a day in Vietnam and a lack of proper solutions to the waste problem is harming the urban environment.

Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang and Hai Phong account for 45.24 percent of solid waste generated by urban areas.

They say it is even difficult to get waste for experimental treatment.

At least 15-40 applications for waste treatment projects have been proposed by appropriate agencies in every city and province. 

But local authorities don’t know which technology to choose. Moreover, It is difficult to find the most suitable technology for Vietnam, where waste is not sorted at source.

According to Dong, Vietnam should set national standards on waste treatment  under management of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MONRE). Investors with different technologies should attend bids to obtain contracts on waste treatment. 

To prove the capability of projects, investors should show how technologies work.

“Management agencies will assess the efficiency in accordance with Vietnamese standards,” Dong said.

The technologies which can satisfy the standards will be chosen. If there is more than one technology that meets standards, appropriate agencies would consider other factors, including economic efficiency.

The investors who can treat large volumes of waste, generate more electricity, and produce fewer emissions will win the bid to treat waste in the localities.

“With the competition method, we will be able to find the most suitable investors,” Dong said.

However, if the chosen investors are found using unsuitable technologies, the local authorities cannot terminate contracts with the investors, because they have to pay compensation to the investors under the Investment Law.

To solve this problem, it would be better to refer to Decree 130 on the production and supply of public services, which says that local authorities can terminate contracts with projects using waste treatment technologies that do not bring the desired results as committed.

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