Several foreign countries recycle and reuse waste to protect theenvironment and save natural resources, but this has not received theattention it merits in Vietnam, environmental experts said.
Statisticsfrom the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) revealedthat the country discharges some 28.5 million tonnes of solid wasteevery year, as well as some 19 million tonnes of domestic solid waste.
Further, the volume of waste in urban areas across the country increases by 10 percent every year.
Hanoialone discharges about 6,500 tonnes of domestic solid waste every day,whereas Ho Chi Minh City releases more than 7,000 tonnes of waste daily.
Accordingto environmental experts, 50 to 70 percent of this waste can berecycled. However, only a limited amount of waste is recycled atpresent, even though sufficient funds are available for its transportand treatment. For instance, HCM City spends hundreds of billions ofdong per year on treating waste.
Deputy Director of theEnvironment Department under the MONRE, Hoang Duong Tung, noted thatsome waste recycling systems had been set up, but their infrastructureand effectiveness could not keep up with the demand.
"Currently the most popular way of treating waste is by burying it," he added.
Incompletestatistics from the MONRE show that only some 120 of the more than 450landfills in the country followed proper sanitary regulations, while theremaining 337 were substandard and caused environmental pollution.
"Burying waste is unsafe because it increases methane gas poisoning and requires a lot of land," Tung explained.
Lookingtowards 2050, a strategy on managing solid waste seeks to assure thatall urban areas have solid waste recycling systems by 2025.
Moreover,the Law on Environmental Protection, which was approved by the NationalAssembly last year and brought into effect at the beginning of theyear, stipulates that owners of enterprises that discharge waste areresponsible for their recycling and reuse.
To better reuse waste,Tung suggested that policies be issued to encourage residents tocollect and separate waste for recycling.
In addition, moreinvestment should be made towards this end, and inspections should becarried out to monitor how waste is being treated.
Further, improved models on treating waste should be studied and implemented extensively, he emphasised.-VNA
Statisticsfrom the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) revealedthat the country discharges some 28.5 million tonnes of solid wasteevery year, as well as some 19 million tonnes of domestic solid waste.
Further, the volume of waste in urban areas across the country increases by 10 percent every year.
Hanoialone discharges about 6,500 tonnes of domestic solid waste every day,whereas Ho Chi Minh City releases more than 7,000 tonnes of waste daily.
Accordingto environmental experts, 50 to 70 percent of this waste can berecycled. However, only a limited amount of waste is recycled atpresent, even though sufficient funds are available for its transportand treatment. For instance, HCM City spends hundreds of billions ofdong per year on treating waste.
Deputy Director of theEnvironment Department under the MONRE, Hoang Duong Tung, noted thatsome waste recycling systems had been set up, but their infrastructureand effectiveness could not keep up with the demand.
"Currently the most popular way of treating waste is by burying it," he added.
Incompletestatistics from the MONRE show that only some 120 of the more than 450landfills in the country followed proper sanitary regulations, while theremaining 337 were substandard and caused environmental pollution.
"Burying waste is unsafe because it increases methane gas poisoning and requires a lot of land," Tung explained.
Lookingtowards 2050, a strategy on managing solid waste seeks to assure thatall urban areas have solid waste recycling systems by 2025.
Moreover,the Law on Environmental Protection, which was approved by the NationalAssembly last year and brought into effect at the beginning of theyear, stipulates that owners of enterprises that discharge waste areresponsible for their recycling and reuse.
To better reuse waste,Tung suggested that policies be issued to encourage residents tocollect and separate waste for recycling.
In addition, moreinvestment should be made towards this end, and inspections should becarried out to monitor how waste is being treated.
Further, improved models on treating waste should be studied and implemented extensively, he emphasised.-VNA
