Viet Nam, Denmark boost waste treatment partnership
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HA NOI (VNS)– International and domestic enterprises urgently needed to address the problem of increased waste, deputy minister of Construction Cao Lai Quang said at a technology exchange workshop over Viet Nam and Denmark’s green growth partnership in waste treatment and renewable energy.
Viet Nam’s rapid economic growth and intensive urbanisation had placed significant pressures on the environment, explained Danish Minister of Trade and Investment Pia Olsen Dyhr. Waste disposal was a matter of particular concern, as most waste was dumped in landfills and not recycled profitably.
Given the many challenges that the country faced in waste treatment – financial shortages, technology selection, management capacity and public awareness – enterprises’ involvement was crucial for green growth, Quang said.
Danish enterprises were looking for Vietnamese partners to exchange technology and strengthen knowledge, according to Dyhr, who pointed out that waste could be a valuable resource to produce raw materials or generate energy.
Le Van Thuc, director of Ha Noi-based Son Tay Urban Environment Company, said that sorting waste for further processing and treatment was difficult and costly.
The company currently has a 27-hectare dumping area that can deal with 200-300 tonnes of waste per day, but Thuc warned that as discharged waste piled up to thousands of tonnes in the next few years, the company would be unable to tackle the problem without technological improvements. — VNS