Suburbs struggling with household waste

Currently, most organizations and individuals collecting and treating household waste in suburban areas still do it manually, not meeting hygiene and environmental requirements.

Garbage collection vehicles in An Hung commune

Fragmented scale

Kien Thuy Urban Environment Construction Company Limited is in charge of collecting and transporting garbage in Kien Minh and Kien Hai communes. The means of this unit are only handcarts and homemade vehicles. Tan Phat Environmental Services Trading Company Limited collects garbage in Le Ich Moc ward with a total volume of 29 tons/day, also with quite rudimentary means. This is a common situation for businesses collecting and transporting household waste in the eastern suburbs of Hai Phong .

In the east of Hai Phong, there are currently 22 units collecting and treating household waste in the suburban areas. Of these, there are 16 enterprises, 2 public service units and 4 cooperatives. The means of collecting and transporting household waste are mainly converted and self-made. This area also maintains garbage collection teams with a total volume of 535 tons/day with the main means of collection being carts.

In the western communes of Hai Phong, there are 11 companies, 7 cooperatives and about 985 groups and teams (average of 2-4 people/group) collecting household waste. The waste collection groups and teams use handcarts or modified vehicles to collect household waste, then transfer it to a centralized landfill or collection and transfer locations, before taking it to a waste treatment plant.

Along with the urbanization process, the amount of domestic waste in the suburban areas of Hai Phong City is increasing. Meanwhile, the method of collecting and transporting domestic waste in communes in both the eastern and western areas of the city is still manual, using mainly human power with rudimentary tools and machinery.

Implementing regulations on classifying household waste at source is a mandatory requirement for organizations and individuals. Accordingly, waste after classification must be collected by specialized vehicles with separate compartments and gathered at locations suitable for each type of solid waste. However, currently, suburban areas still do not have a system of vehicles for collecting, transporting and gathering points for waste after classification. This situation requires the city to improve its capacity to collect and transport household waste in suburban areas.

Bidding for public service provision

The Law on Environmental Protection 2020 does not encourage investment in facilities providing domestic waste treatment services that only serve the area of a commune-level administrative unit. Domestic waste must be treated with appropriate technology that meets environmental technical standards. The Government has regulations restricting the treatment of domestic waste by landfill technology. This shows that domestic waste collection and transportation services in rural areas need to have an appropriate form of organization, instead of each commune and village having small, fragmented collection teams.

Notably, the Law on Environmental Protection 2020 encourages the selection of domestic waste collection facilities through bidding. Bidding is the basis for each locality to select organizations and individuals that meet the requirements for collecting and transporting domestic waste according to new requirements. However, in order to have many capable businesses and organizations participating in bidding to provide domestic waste collection and treatment services in suburban areas, the city needs to have appropriate policies to attract businesses to invest in this field, such as land policies, environmental sanitation fees, etc.

Mr. Pham Van Gioi, Director of Hai Phong Environmental Services Company Limited - a waste collection unit in Tien Lang and An Hung communes, said that from July 2023, the company will take on the additional task of collecting and treating waste in Quyet Tien commune, Tien Lang district (now Tien Lang commune). However, revenue from environmental sanitation fees from people and support from the budget is still low, not ensuring economic efficiency, so the company cannot invest in modern machinery and technology. When there is a clear support mechanism, the company will proactively invest in improving the capacity and efficiency of collecting, transporting and treating domestic solid waste.

BAO CHAU

Source: https://baohaiphongplus.vn/ngoai-thanh-loay-hoay-voi-rac-thai-sinh-hoat-417410.html