Vietnam plans environmentally-friendly waste disposal policies

Managing Vietnam's solid waste in an environmentally-friendly way is a national priority, according to Minister of the Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang.

As rubbish continues to increase in line with the nation's industrialization and urbanization, ensuring sustainable solid waste management is set to be one of seven priority programs in the national strategy for environmental protection by 2020.

Quang said that collecting, transporting, treating and destroying solid waste has already created headaches for authorities in developing countries. According to the just-released 2011 National Environment Report around 28 million tonnes of solid waste is produced nationwide each year.

The report, which was made in co-operation by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Danish Embassy in Vietnam, said volumes were increasing by 10 percent a year.

Vietnam faces a problem of public education with low awareness of recycling, for example mixing organic and non-organic waste together for disposal. Hanoi launched a  Japanese-funded Reduce-Reuse-Recycle program in 2003 in four districts but officials said it has “failed to meet expectations”.

Official figures show that about 46 percent of all solid waste is discharged in urban areas, with 17 percent of solid waste a result of industrial production activities with the rest coming from agriculture, trade villages and the health sector.

The solid waste discharged in urban areas is forecast to increase in volume by up to 51 percent by 2015.