Current Situation Of Municipal Waste in Vietnam

Current status of waste disposal management in Vietnam

The current status of waste management in Vietnam presents significant challenges due to the huge amount of waste generated daily. According to data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), Vietnam produces approximately 60,000 tons of household waste each day. Notably, the urban areas of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone account for a significant portion, generating 7,000 to 9,000 tons of trash each. This amount is projected to increase by 10-16 percent by 2025.

Despite the staggering volume of waste generated, waste treatment in Vietnam is largely ineffective. Currently, most of the waste is taken to landfill but only 20 percent of those landfill sites meet national sanitary requirements, according to MoNRE's National Environmental Status Report in 2021. While landfilling may be a simple and straightforward approach, it is expensive and outdated. Moreover, if not properly managed, the process of decomposing garbage in landfills can lead to the pollution of land, air, and underground water sources, exacerbating environmental concerns.

The consequences of substantial waste generation and inadequate treatment methods are evident in the polluted surroundings of landfills, which greatly impact the daily lives of nearby residents. A notable example is the Nam Son landfill in Hanoi, which is one of the largest landfill sites in the city. The local community is forced to endure towering mounds of waste emitting foul odors, creating an unpleasant living environment. In fact, there have been instances where residents living near the Nam Son landfill resorted to blocking incoming garbage trucks due to their inability to tolerate the overwhelming stench and pollution.

Only 36 incinerators and composting sites

In fact, a GIZ-list of treatment sites in 2018 included merely 36 treatment facilities: five incinerators, 12 compost sites and 18 composting and incineration sites without energy recovery. The only waste-to-energy plant worked since 2016. According to foreign investors assistant firm Vietnam Briefing, the country's installed capacity for energy recovery from biomass and solid wastes in June 2018 reached 352 MW (megawatt) and 2.4 MW respectively, while the potential from that material was around 2,000 MW and 320 MW respectively: The Vietnamese energy demand, however, ranges from 10 percent by 2020 and eight percent by 2030, with a fourfold increase of electricity consumption in 2030 compared to 2014.