Domestic solid waste surges 46 percent in 10 years

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam saw a 46 percent rise in the volume of domestic solid waste in the 2010-2019 period, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

The ministry reported that in 2019, urban areas across the country released about 35,624 tonnes of domestic solid waste a day, while rural areas discharged 28,394 tonnes a day.

It calculated that in some provinces and cities such as Quang Ninh, Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City and Tien Giang, each resident released over 1 kilogramme of waste per day.

The domestic solid waste collection rate was estimated at around 92 percent in urban areas in 2019, while the rate in rural areas was only 66 percent.

Among 1,322 domestic solid waste processing facilities across the country, around 904 are landfills, but only around 20 percent of them meet hygienic requirements.

Up to 71 percent of collected domestic solid waste is buried, 16 percent is turned into compost fertiliser, and the remainder of13 percent is burned. While burial remains a dominant method of waste processing, there has been a shift to incineration in recent years.

The ministry underlined that plastic waste, which accounts for 6-8 percent of solid domestic waste in landfills, remains a big challenge for the country in waste treatment.

It pointed to the use of plastic bags and materials that are difficult to decompose, along with poor public awareness of recycling and reducing the use of plastic bags as a reason behind the problem./.