Ho Chi Minh City does not have enough land to bury the hazardous industrial wastes it is producing in increasing quantities.
The city has seven private companies that treat hazardous wastes, but they can only handle 0.5-1 tonne a day, far below the requirement.
They are unable to handle more volumes because there is a shortage of land for safe landfills and lack of funds. Besides, most of them use incineration, distillation, and other solid waste technologies that produce an untreatable end product.
The only way for them to treat this is by building environmentally safe landfills.
Tung Nguyen Company, which collects and treats hazardous waste from Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park, applied to buy land to expand its treatment plant in early 2009, but has yet to receive a response.
Dai Phuc Company too is unable to find land for building a factory and hazardous-waste treatment site.
The first city-owned facility, with a capacity to treat 21 tonnes a day, is under construction at the Dong Thanh dumpsite in Hoc Mon district.
The Urban Environment Company said it is planning a facility costing 11 million USD that can treat 200 tonnes of wastes a day.
The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the local government is planning another hazardous-wastes treatment plant in Cu Chi district with enough land for safe landfills.
Factories in the city produce between 250 and 350 tonnes of industrial solid waste like plastics and chemicals daily while hospitals chum hazardous waste and 1,000 tonnes of medical waste out.
Neighbouring provinces generate another 150-200 tonnes of hazardous waste for the city to treat./.
The city has seven private companies that treat hazardous wastes, but they can only handle 0.5-1 tonne a day, far below the requirement.
They are unable to handle more volumes because there is a shortage of land for safe landfills and lack of funds. Besides, most of them use incineration, distillation, and other solid waste technologies that produce an untreatable end product.
The only way for them to treat this is by building environmentally safe landfills.
Tung Nguyen Company, which collects and treats hazardous waste from Le Minh Xuan Industrial Park, applied to buy land to expand its treatment plant in early 2009, but has yet to receive a response.
Dai Phuc Company too is unable to find land for building a factory and hazardous-waste treatment site.
The first city-owned facility, with a capacity to treat 21 tonnes a day, is under construction at the Dong Thanh dumpsite in Hoc Mon district.
The Urban Environment Company said it is planning a facility costing 11 million USD that can treat 200 tonnes of wastes a day.
The city Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the local government is planning another hazardous-wastes treatment plant in Cu Chi district with enough land for safe landfills.
Factories in the city produce between 250 and 350 tonnes of industrial solid waste like plastics and chemicals daily while hospitals chum hazardous waste and 1,000 tonnes of medical waste out.
Neighbouring provinces generate another 150-200 tonnes of hazardous waste for the city to treat./.
