Ho Chi Minh City has resolved pollution problems at 1,400
manufacturers in the city over the last 11 years by either relocating
the factories or by suspending polluting operations.
Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee, said
both public and private companies have been encouraged to recycle
plastics and make fertiliser from waste.
Tin said the city has set a target to treat 100 percent of its harmful waste by 2015.
Between 2013 and 2015, the city will focus on solving urgent waste and
wastewater treatment problems associated with local canals.
Work has been progressing on the basins of Nhieu Loc – Thi Nghe
Canal , Tau Hu – Ben Nghe Canal and the Tan Hoa – Lo Gom Canal.
The city is also improving its drainage system to improve control of flooding.
According to Tin, all industrial parks in the city now have their own
waste water treatment systems, while waste sorting by residential
households has been piloted in District 6 and Binh Thanh District.
Starting this October, solid waste generated by enterprises in
industrial parks and export processing zones in HCM City will be
sorted at source for recycling.
Under a plan prepared by
the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment, solid
waste will be sorted at source into three categories – organic waste,
compostable and non-compostable waste.
Organic waste like vegetables, fruit and leftovers will be collected and recycled to make compost.
Enterprises will be required to use 240-litre containers to contain separated waste that are collected once every two days.
The department is working with the HCM City Export Processing and
Industrial Zones Authority to provide training on waste separation at
source for enterprises, waste collectors and processors from now through
September
A lack of legal documents has been blamed for
the failure of many pilot programmes on waste separation at source in
the city since 2002, department officials said, adding that the new plan
aims to overcome this and other shortcomings.-VNA