Deadlock in handling waste problem in Nghia Dan

Hard work to take out the trash "thanks"

Since the beginning of 2023, 24 communes and towns in the areaNghia Dan districthave to struggle to find a place to dispose of household waste because the waste treatment plant located in the area is refusing to accept the waste. Temporary treatment at landfills causes serious environmental pollution. Even some localities, since the construction of the waste treatment plant in the district, have not planned landfills anymore, so when this situation occurs, they do not know where to dump the waste.

The most difficult problem at present is still concentrated in Nghia Dan town. As the economic, political, cultural and social center of the district, the town area has 7 blocks and hamlets. On average, each month, the amount of domestic waste discharged is about 100 tons. Since the beginning of the year, because the waste treatment plant has stopped accepting waste, the local government has had to work very hard to find a place to dump... "for free".

Garbage piled up and collected on the roadside in Nghia Hong commune. Photo: Minh Thai

Mr. Ho Trung Liem - Chairman of Nghia Dan Town People's Committee said: Because there was no planning for a landfill, when the factory first stopped receiving waste, the town had to ask to "borrow" the landfill of Nghia Binh Commune. However, after a short time, local people protested, so now they have to ask Nghia Lac Commune to temporarily dump the waste.

Mr. Liem also said that if the problem is not resolved soon, the town will not know where to dump the garbage because no local people want to dump their garbage elsewhere. The district will soon meet with the waste treatment plant to discuss signing a contract.

In particular, the signing of contracts will likely be assigned to communes and towns. If following this plan, localities will certainly have to balance their budgets to pay, because with the current environmental sanitation fee, it is very difficult to pay for waste treatment costs.

The temporary landfill in Nghia Duc commune is full of trash. Photo: Minh Thai

In Nghia Binh commune, where the waste treatment plant is located, and also the location where Nghia Dan town has asked to "dump" waste since the beginning of 2023, waste is now becoming a pressing issue. Mr. Pham Hai - Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune said: The whole commune collects about 20 tons of waste 4 times a month. Up to now, the temporary landfill in the area is almost full. If not handled soon, waste will accumulate everywhere.

Even in Nghia Hong commune, because the contract with the waste plant has not been signed, the household waste of local people is temporarily being taken to the local landfill. The commune is having to contract with a unit based in Thai Hoa town to collect and transport the waste to the collection point. Mr. Nguyen Van Thuyet - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said: Currently, the communes are waiting for the results after the meeting between the district and the factory representative, then proceed to sign the contract and handle the remaining waste.

Garbage is piling up on both sides of the entrance to the treatment plant. Photo: Tien Dong

It is known that in Nghia Dan district, there is a solid waste treatment plant, invested by T-Tech Vietnam Technology Group Joint Stock Company, with a capacity of treating 75 - 100 tons of waste/day and night. This plant has been in operation since June 2017.

After coming into operation, the factory has treated domestic waste for 24 communes and towns of Nghia Dan district with a volume of 56,287 tons by the end of 2022. However, by July 2022, after the 5-year contract between the factory and Nghia Dan district People's Committee ended, the two sides had not found a common voice in signing a new contract, leading to the treatment of newly generated waste being affected. Even by the end of 2022, Nghia Dan district still owed more than 8.5 billion VND for waste treatment.

From January 1, 2023, Nghia Dan solid waste treatment plant has stopped receiving waste in Nghia Dan district. In the photo, a large amount of unburned waste is piled up in the plant. Photo: Tien Dong

Find a solution

Mr. Phan Van Ngan - in charge of managing Nghia Dan Solid Waste Treatment Plant said: Previously, when the plant was put into operation, the signing of the waste treatment contract was signed directly by the District People's Committee with the plant.

However, because the local authorities did not transfer the treatment costs in a timely manner, at times the factory did not have enough money to pay workers' salaries, pay for electricity, maintain equipment, and buy fuel, so at times it had to temporarily stop processing waste. The peak was from January 1, 2023, when the factory temporarily stopped receiving waste.

Currently, during the time of stopping receiving garbage, this factory is also maintaining its machinery. Photo: Tien Dong

According to Mr. Ngan, in addition to owing money for waste treatment, according to the approved planning design documents of the Nghia Dan Solid Waste Treatment Plant project and the investment policy approved by the Provincial People's Committee, the total land area to be handed over to the investor to implement the project is 8.37 hectares. However, up to now, the locality has only handed over 3.1 hectares. This area is not enough to arrange an ash slag burial pit, expand the collection yard and classify input waste.

Regarding the plan for the factory to sign contracts directly with 24 communes and towns, Mr. Ngan said: Previously, when the factory signed contracts with the district, the signing, acceptance, and settlement of payments were easier. Signing separately with each commune and town means having to add a contact point, having to have 24 sets of contracts, and having to go to each commune and town every month and every quarter to complete the documents.

“In the near future, when working on signing contracts with each commune and town, the settlement and payment plan will certainly have to be unified in the direction of quarterly settlement, and processing costs will also be paid through bank accounts… otherwise we will not have enough people to work” – Mr. Ngan shared.

In addition to being in debt for waste treatment costs, this project has not yet been granted enough land, so there is not enough space to arrange an ash slag pit, expand the collection yard and classify input waste. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Tran Manh Ha - Vice Chairman of Nghia Dan District People's Committee said: In the coming time, the district will chair a meeting with the investor to reach an agreement. Regarding the subjects of contract signing, volume control, acceptance, etc., at the end of 2021, the District People's Council also issued a Resolution on classification, collection, transportation, volume control and management of funds for collection, transportation and treatment of domestic waste in the district. Accordingly, the signing of contracts, volume control and acceptance will be carried out by the People's Committees of communes, towns, enterprises and production and business establishments in the district.

In addition, the People's Committees of communes and towns must also base on the population distribution in the area to develop estimates and organize the collection of fees for collection, transportation, and treatment of household waste according to the service price regulations issued by the Provincial People's Committee. The organization of payment and settlement is also carried out according to the principle that the unit that signs the contract is responsible for managing the payment and settlement according to regulations.

If the problems related to signing contracts and settling outstanding debts are not resolved soon, it will greatly affect the environmental situation in Nghia Dan district. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Ha also said that the district cannot send people to each commune to weigh, measure and count the garbage in the communes, but only through reported data, if so, it would be against the principle. If the communes sign, the monitoring of the volume will be more appropriate, the hamlets and communes will monitor the volume of waste generated, minimizing possible errors.

The problem of waste treatment costs, combined with the lack of land transfer to investors, is the key to the problem of waste treatment in Nghia Dan. Because the current landfill in the communes is only a temporary solution, not to mention that ineffective treatment will cause negative impacts on the environment. It is thought that local authorities as well as investors need to find solutions soon, demonstrating a sense of responsibility to the community, for the environment and the health of the people./.