Hazardous medical and industrial waste is brought to the HCM City Urban Environment Company Limited’s treatment plant in Hoc Mon district’s Dong Thanh commune.(Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City isnow treating hazardous medical and industrial waste by high-tech methods at twoplants, but by 2020 the city will need additional plant capacity as well asmore private investment when public funding runs out.
The city’s budget can allocate 70 percent of thetotal cost for collecting, transport and treatment of hazardous waste, but thefunds will gradually fall to 40 percent in 2019, and by 2020 there will be nosubsidy.
The municipal Department of Natural Resourcesand Environment has asked the municipal People’s Committee to seek privateinvestors for the collection, transport and treatment of hazardous medicalwaste for small private health clinics and a number of public healthfacilities.
At least one more plant with the capacity of 50tonnes per day should be built, according to Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman ofthe People’s Committee.
A plant at Dong Thanh commune in the city’soutlying Hoc Mon district was put into operation in 2011, according to Doan KhacHung of the HCM City Urban Environment Company Limited.
The plant’s treatment technology is adouble-chambered incinerator with a large capacity. The company has also set upa 5,000sq.m ground for burying ash after treatment.
Hazardous medical and industrial waste iscollected and transported from factories and industrial parks in the city tothe company’s plant, and is brought to the incinerator via an automatic line.
Vehicles and other devices used to transportwaste are cleaned in the area near the plant, while the plant’s operation ismonitored and checked frequently by staff of the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment and its department in HCM City.
Inspection results show that the quality of gasdischarged from the incinerator and liquid waste after treatment meets nationalstandards.
Ha Tran Hien Duc, deputy head of theenvironmental service division under HCM City Urban Environment CompanyLimited, said the plant in Dong Thanh commune treated 21 tonnes of waste perday.
The company’s other plant in Binh Tan district’sBinh Hung Hoa ward has a capacity of seven tonnes per day.
According to Duc, these two plants currently cantreat all the hazardous medical and industrial waste in the city.
The HCM City People’s Committee has approvedmoving the plant in Dong Thanh commune to Phuoc Hiep Waste Treatment Complex inthe city’s outlying Cu Chi district. The plant’s technology will be replacedwith a more modern plasma technology.
According to the Department of Natural Resourceand Environment, the amount of hazardous medical waste increased over thelast 10 years from nine tonnes in 2006 to 22.2 tonnes in 2016.
Between 2017 and 2030, the amount is expected toincrease to nearly 10 percent each year.
The city has 107 public and private hospitalsand 322 ward- or commune-level health stations. Most of them have installedstandard wastewater treatment systems.
At a recent meeting, Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairmanof the People’s Committee, called for investors to take part in wastetreatment. The city can meet treatment needs until 2020, but after this date,more solutions will be needed until 2025, he said.-VNA
The city’s budget can allocate 70 percent of thetotal cost for collecting, transport and treatment of hazardous waste, but thefunds will gradually fall to 40 percent in 2019, and by 2020 there will be nosubsidy.
The municipal Department of Natural Resourcesand Environment has asked the municipal People’s Committee to seek privateinvestors for the collection, transport and treatment of hazardous medicalwaste for small private health clinics and a number of public healthfacilities.
At least one more plant with the capacity of 50tonnes per day should be built, according to Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman ofthe People’s Committee.
A plant at Dong Thanh commune in the city’soutlying Hoc Mon district was put into operation in 2011, according to Doan KhacHung of the HCM City Urban Environment Company Limited.
The plant’s treatment technology is adouble-chambered incinerator with a large capacity. The company has also set upa 5,000sq.m ground for burying ash after treatment.
Hazardous medical and industrial waste iscollected and transported from factories and industrial parks in the city tothe company’s plant, and is brought to the incinerator via an automatic line.
Vehicles and other devices used to transportwaste are cleaned in the area near the plant, while the plant’s operation ismonitored and checked frequently by staff of the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment and its department in HCM City.
Inspection results show that the quality of gasdischarged from the incinerator and liquid waste after treatment meets nationalstandards.
Ha Tran Hien Duc, deputy head of theenvironmental service division under HCM City Urban Environment CompanyLimited, said the plant in Dong Thanh commune treated 21 tonnes of waste perday.
The company’s other plant in Binh Tan district’sBinh Hung Hoa ward has a capacity of seven tonnes per day.
According to Duc, these two plants currently cantreat all the hazardous medical and industrial waste in the city.
The HCM City People’s Committee has approvedmoving the plant in Dong Thanh commune to Phuoc Hiep Waste Treatment Complex inthe city’s outlying Cu Chi district. The plant’s technology will be replacedwith a more modern plasma technology.
According to the Department of Natural Resourceand Environment, the amount of hazardous medical waste increased over thelast 10 years from nine tonnes in 2006 to 22.2 tonnes in 2016.
Between 2017 and 2030, the amount is expected toincrease to nearly 10 percent each year.
The city has 107 public and private hospitalsand 322 ward- or commune-level health stations. Most of them have installedstandard wastewater treatment systems.
At a recent meeting, Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairmanof the People’s Committee, called for investors to take part in wastetreatment. The city can meet treatment needs until 2020, but after this date,more solutions will be needed until 2025, he said.-VNA
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